Small Screen Movies
"I must be crazy to be in a loony bin like this," says RP McMurphy, but he isn't; in fact, his sanity is about to threaten the system that controls the asylum, in this classic, five Oscar-winning film. Jack Nicholson is perfectly cast as rebel-rousing McMurphy while Louise Fletcher's turn as Nurse Ratched is a study of bland tyranny.
Sparkle ***
Today, BBC2, 10:50pm
This film underperformed when released in 2007, but is worth catching now. Shaun Evans plays a Liverpool lad who moves to London with his mum (Lesley Manville) who has hopes of making it as a singer. He falls into an affair with Stockard Channing and then with her daughter Amanda Ryan, but this isn't The Graduate; there's a twist.
Crank ***
Monday, ITV4, 10pm
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Hide AdThis ludicrous Jason Statham actioner sees his character about to explode if he doesn't keep his adrenaline at peak highs. So begins a series of fighting, drug-taking, running around and a disturbing sex scene.
The Hours ***
Monday, BBC 4, 10pm
Nicole Kidman won an Oscar for her nose - sorry, her performance as Virginia Woolf in this arty adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
This article was first published in The Scotsman, Saturday August 14, 2010