THE TREE OF LIFE
Dir: Terrence Malick. Starring: Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, Sean Penn

Opinions have been sharply divided about The Tree of Life, illustrated perfectly by the fact that it was booed at the Cannes Film Festival when it won the top award. And indeed it is a challenging film. But at the very least it sets its sights high, aiming at nothing less than life the universe and everything.
There are four sections. In the first we learn that one of Pitt and Chastain's three sons has died, and are introduced to Penn, another son, now grown and looking troubled. This leads us into an astounding half-hour potted history of existence, from the big bang onwards. Reminiscent of the 2001's surreal finale it is a visual feast of remarkable images.
Then the bulk of the film shows the boys' childhood in idyllic 1950s small-town America. This is the bit that many find taxing, but others praise as a perfect evocation of growing up.
What makes it hard viewing is the stubborn refusal to break into narrative: we see condensed vignettes which tell wider stories but none of which are given special emphasis – it's like a dream of youth, beautiful to watch, stunningly filmed and acted, but languorously out of reach.
And then there's the final section where the entire cast end up in surreal wildernesses (beaches, salt flats, etc) and experience some sort of enlightenment. Maybe it's heaven. There are metaphorical doors all over the place and it's dead symbolic.
Throughout the film whispered voices ask philosophical – or just plain naive – questions, suggesting one theme as the never-ending struggle between ‘grace' (Chastain's loving mother) and ‘nature' (Pitt's disciplinarian father), but there's so much offered that the whole is rather overwhelming.
There is much to admire here, and also much that frustrates, but this is a uniquely ambitious film and one that deserves engaged attention.

A whole bunch of movies sneaked out in the couple weeks around Christmas and new year so there's a lot to catch up on.
What's odd is that Christmas seemed a dumping time for some of the best foreign and festival films of the year, making it even more likely for them to be overlooked.

Best of these, and a Canadian multiple award winner, was Incendies, not a cheerful watch by any means, follows the journey of two twins who head to Lebanon following their mother's last wishes to deliver two mysterious letters. The subject matter – child soldiers, the continuing damage of war – is difficult, but the story, based on Wajdi Mouawad's acclaimed play, is brilliantly told and deeply moving.

Hanna is an unusual take on the teenage assassin genre (see Leon, Colombiana), being directed by Joe (Atonement) Wright, who brings a very arthouse sensibility to proceedings, turning the thriller into something of a dreamy fairytale. It's unusual and well worth a look.

Also very worthwhile is The Guard, a charmingly deadpan piece of Irish storytelling anchored by a magnificent turn from Brendan Gleeson as a hard-drinking prostitute-loving small-town cop who finds himself unwillingly forced to actually go to work when Don Cheedle's American agent turns up on the trail of drug smugglers. Very In Bruges, very entertaining.

And on the comedy front I though Horrible Bosses turned out to be one of last year's better mainstream comedies, loaded with quotable zingers and great performances, particularly Jennifer Aniston's almost unrecognisable sex-crazed dentist. Not only that, but it actually has a plot, complete with twists and turns and surprises. Good stuff, and better than Bad Teacher, though Bad Teacher isn't by any means bad. It's like a less extreme version of Bad Santa and Cameron Diaz has plenty of fun in the lead. The biggest problem is actually a reluctance to plunge over the top, although some may appreciate that.