The beautiful game is full of larger than life characters – men of boundless desire, on and off the pitch, who inspire lifelong devotion from the fans. Key to any team’s success is the manager: the architect of every hard fought battle between the goal posts, who must weather the storm when players fail to perform.

In the annals of modern British football, Brian Clough remains one of the most charismatic, bullish and successful figures. He is still the only domestic manager to win back-to-back European cups. In August 2006, David Peace published his controversial book, The Damned United, about a tempestuous period in Clough’s professional life during the 1974 season. Friends and family reacted angrily to the depiction of Old Big ’Ead as bullying and selfish.

Those same loved ones have predictably refused to watch Tom Hooper’s film of the same name, adapted for the screen by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen). They need not worry. Steeped in nostalgia and blessed with an endearing performance from Michael Sheen as the so-called “greatest England manager we never had”, this valentine to the former darling of Nottingham Forest scores on many levels.

The film opens in July 1974 with Brian and his two boys, Simon and Nigel, travelling to West Yorkshire to succeed Don Revie (Colm Meaney) as manager of Division 1 champions, Leeds United. An impromptu interview with Granada TV, in which Brian openly criticises Revie’s tactics, declares war against senior squad members including Billy Bremner (Stephen Graham), Johnny Giles (Peter McDonald) and Norman Hunter (Mark Cameron).

“I don’t have to justify myself to you,” Brian tells Johnny sternly after a disastrous start to the campaign. “No, but come Saturday, there will be 40,000 people here who you do have to justify yourself to,” retorts the player cockily.

Flashbacks to six years earlier reveal the seeds of Brian’s dislike of Revie as he, and loyal assistant Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall), take Derby from the foot of Division 2 to the dizzy heights of Division 1.

The Damned United is an enthralling and affectionate tribute to a man who wears egotistical bravado like an old jumper. Morgan’s script navigates the timeframes, providing us with background to the rivalry that drives Brian to the brink of self-destruction. Sheen’s rapport with Spall galvanises the picture, with an amusing emotional payoff in the closing minutes.

In the war against terror, the truth is occasionally sacrificed at the altar of perception. Convince the media, and therefore the public, that you are winning, and half the battle is already won.

Writer-director Jeffrey Nachmanoff exploits the disparity between fact and illusion in Traitor, a taut thriller of political intrigue and espionage, creating a horribly plausible scenario for a devastating attack on American soil. Central to the nightmarish plot is an undercover operative, apparently embedded within a terrorist cell to bring it down from the inside, whose dubious actions continually suggest an ulterior motive. Like the characters, we’re left in the dark for most of the film as to whether he is double-crossing the Americans to avenge the murder of his Muslim father in a car bomb.

Rage and grief can corrupt even the purest soul, festering for years before they finally take hold. A stirring performance from Don Cheadle in the title role muddies the waters, playing up the ambiguities in a character, who is being supplied with actual explosives as part of his covert mission.

Who is conning whom and to what end?

Born in Sudan where his early life is marked by tragedy, Samir Horn (Cheadle) is a devout Muslim who aligns himself with the Americans, determined to do his part to heal divisions with the West. Unbeknown to his girlfriend Chandra (Archie Panjabi), he goes deep undercover to bring down a cell fronted by Omar (Said Taghmaoui), who he befriends in jail. They escape confinement and Samir offers his bomb-making expertise as part of a sick and twisted plan to strike fear into the hearts of every American family. To prove his worth and gain access to the next link in the terrorist chain, Fareed Mansour (Alyy Khan), Samir must detonate a device and kill innocent civilians.

His handler Carter (Jeff Daniels), seemingly the only man who knows that Samir is undercover, urges his man to do whatever is necessary to achieve his goals.