JAMES BIDDLE

MAN UP (2015)

Starring Simon Pegg, Lake Bell, Rory Kinnear, Ken Stott, Harriet Walter, Olivia Williams, Sharon Horgan, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Robert Wilfort and Ophelia Lovibond. Directed by Ben Palmer.

Meet Nancy: 34, single (still), hung-over (again), and exhausted by the endless futile set ups foisted upon her by well-meaning but clueless friends. As she travels across London to toast another 10 years of her parent’s blissfully happy marriage, 40 year old, freshly-hatched divorcee Jack mistakes her for his 24 year old blind date. In a moment of uncharacteristic optimism (or insanity?), Nancy decides to just go with it… What follows is a chaotic, unconventional, hilarious night neither of them will ever forget. There will be drinking, there will be home truths; there will be an old classmate with a long-standing crush and stalker tendencies. There will be lost divorce papers, lost hopes, competitive indoor sports and an epic venue-to-venue urban triathlon. Oh, and the small matter of Jack finding out that Nancy isn’t actually his real blind date.

CUBAN FURY (2014)

Starring Nick Frost, Rashida Jones, Chris O'Dowd, Olivia Colman and Ian McShane. Directed by James Griffiths.

1987: A 13 year old natural born dancer with fire in his heels and snakes in his hips is working himself up to explode all over the UK Junior Salsa Championships. But then: a freakish bullying incident on the mean streets of London robs him of his confidence, and our young hero finds his life diverted down a very different path.

So it is that 22 years later, an adult Bruce Garrett finds himself out-of-shape and unloved - trapped in a downward spiral of self-pity, repression and Nando's take-outs. Only Julia, his smart, funny, gorgeous new American boss, gives him reason to live. But she's untouchable. Out of his league, so he imagines, with her perfect smile and perfect life. Unknown to Bruce however, Julia has issues all of her own. Luckily for him, she also has a secret passion.

Then there's Drew, his alpha male colleague and horny king-monkey of the office. With Drew making no secret of his desire to get (his words) "all up inside Julia", Bruce is forced into action. And thus, Bruce is once again brought face-to-face with the darkest and most powerful of his inner demons. Somehow, someway, and with a lot of hand-holding from loyal sister Sam, Bruce must learn how to unshackle his dancing beast, regain his long lost fury and claim the love of his life...and he's going to do it all On The Dance Floor...

REVIEWS Cuban Fury - Get behind the underdog in sequins