DVD OF THE WEEK

FORBIDDEN LIES *****
Dir: Anna Broinowski
Starring: Norma Kouri

Norma Kouri made a splash, especially where she was living, Australia, with her book Forbidden Love. She was a Jordanian virgin, in hiding from relatives, who wrote about a childhood friend, murdered by her family in an honour killing, for falling in love with a Christian. The book, harshly critical of Jordanian society and the Muslim way of life in general, was published not long after the September 11 attacks and became a worldwide bestseller.
The one problem: it was all lies.
It turns out that Norma Kouri was in fact an American mother of two, on the run from the FBI. Anna Brionowski's remarkable film tries to get to the bottom of it all, with – amazingly - the full cooperation of Kouri, who still claims that the book was 'essentially true”.
And what a tangled web it weaves! As each layer of deception is stripped away from Kouri, another even more complicated lie takes its place. This is better than the sharpest thriller as the plot keeps unravelling with new revelations, lie detector tests and lost police reports, and a picture builds of an incredibly damaged but totally unrepentant con artist who, by the time the film has finished, has turned on her supportive (though possibly gangster) husband and completely reinvented her original story.
Yet, throughout this, Kouri remains charming witty and fun company, a playful and charming presence, seemingly as amused by her ever-changing cons as the viewer is.
Great stuff and fascinating.

George Romero returns to the world of zombies with the 'assembled video” approach of Diary of the Dead (***). Rather than continuing from the overrun city of Land of the Dead he takes things back to the start, Night of the Living Dead territory, but all seen through news reports and first person video. So there are pluses and minuses. On the minus side, this first-person narrative approach has become a bit stale, what with Blair Witch, Redacted, Cloverfield and even a zombie entry, [Rec]. Also, starting from the top means explaining all those zombie rules again (shoot ‘em in the head!) which audiences are now over-familiar with. On the plus side, Romero is still the very best at this genre and it shows in the originality of the set pieces and unusually intelligent approach to the whole subject. Can't wait for his next, Island of the Dead.

They just don't make good kids movies for adults anymore. And when they do, nobody watches them. Son of Rambow (****) looks like suffering the same fate as Danny Boyle's underrated Millions, of missing both the kids audience and – because it stars kids – the adult audience. Yet it is a joyful celebration of youth and filmmaking and two young misfits team up to make a homage to their favourite film, First Blood. With all the usual growing pains present and correct this film doesn't have a mean bone in its slim running time and will leave a smile on even the most stoic of faces.

American Cousins (***) is a decidedly old-fashioned piece of filmmaking, eschewing fancy editing and modern artifices for a satisfyingly low-key comedy-drama. It finds two American hitmen hiding out with a cousin in Scotland who they are somewhat surprised to find isn't a gangster but a fish ‘n' chip shop owner. He is likewise alarmed at their profession. It's all very pleasant stuff, relying on small character beats rather than action and all the better for it.

There is nothing pleasant about The Strangers (**), wherein a couple in their home are terrorised by unknown people in masks. That's it. The whole film. It's a film with a cold sadistic heart and few redeeming features. If you like your horror completely nihilistic (if not especially bloody), this is for you.

And then there's Lost Boys 2: The Tribe (*). A sequel twenty years too late (if it was needed at all) with the bizarre conceit of using the brother of original star (Keifer Sutherland) in the main role. Sadly Angus Sutherland is as scary as a cuddly toy and the film is pure drivel. Even the most devoted fans will want to avoid this one.