Movies & Booze reviewer Esther McCarthy headed to see this week's selection of new releases.
To hear what she thought, tune in live to Moncrieff at 3.25pm: www.newstalk.com/player/
Cake (15A) ****
There were a lot of high-profile snubs when this year's Oscar nominations were announced in January - and you can add Jennifer Aniston's name to that list.
Aniston's previously hinted at a knack for darker parts in indie dramas like The Good Girl. And here she is superb as a woman embittered by tough life experiences.
Aniston plays Claire Simmons, an acerbic, sarcastic woman who suffers from chronic pain for reasons that only become apparent later in the film.
When she challenges her peers about the suicide of another woman in their support group (Anna Kendrick), she is ousted by them, only to become fixated by the woman's life and death.
At first she seems like a bitch, but it gradually becomes apparent that Simmons is a deeply traumatised and damaged woman.
She’s become far too fond of her painkillers - which she often washes down with wine - and overly dependent on her Mexican housekeeper (a very good Adriana Barraza) for support in her daily life.
The movie isn’t entirely a piece of cake, and there are some problems with the story’s structure, and some moviegoers may find dreamlike scenes involving Kendrick’s deceased character too much to swallow. But ultimately this drama has a lot to recommend it.
To the great credit of director Daniel Barnz and scriptwriter Patrick Tobin, the full extent and reasons for Claire being the person she is only emerge gradually during the film, making this a drama with a real emotional punch.
Ultimately, though, this is Aniston's film, and her non-appearance in the Best Actress shortlist – a notably weak one at that – is frankly baffling.
The Wedding Ringer (15A) **
Josh Gad and Kevin Hart do their best to bring this jaded bromance to life - and sometimes they succeed.
Gad plays Doug, a socially awkward man who has managed to get to adulthood without making any close friends.
There’s just one fairly major problem: Doug is now getting married and has invented a best friend to impress his girl. Unfortunately this pal doesn't actually exist.
Desperate to keep his friendless secret, Doug recruits the services of Jimmy Callahan (Kevin Hart).
A professional chancer with a smooth line of patter, Jimmy is the boss of Best Man Inc., a company that specialises in finding cool friends to attend the weddings of mateless blokes.
Gad and Hart make for a likeable on-screen pairing and together are the best thing about this film. Meanwhile, the crude jokes – including an extended sequence involving a manhood and a dog – will service the film’s targeted fan base.
But the high level of gags you need to make a movie like this special is just not there, and there’s a feeling that everyone’s trying just a little too hard to squash every possible wedding-movie scenario into the film.
