The plot, stars and key facts about movies on current release.

GLADIATOR

(Cert 15, 150 mins)

British director Ridley Scott's sword and sandals epic is a muscular and bold combat film threaded with scenes of graphic gore. The hero of the day is Maximus (Russell Crowe), a popular general in the army of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) who is adored as much by his men as he is by the Emperor. The Emperor's weasel-like son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) is not best pleased by this show of family disloyalty and murders the old man. He assumes the throne and orders the immediate execution of Maximus, the sole threat to his rule. Barely escaping death, Maximus is forced into slavery and is trained as a gladiator by Proximo (Oliver Reed).

KEVIN & PERRY GO LARGE

(Cert 15, 82 mins)

Kevin (Harry Enfield) is a prime example of that most feared and misunderstood species: the teenager. Kevin dreams of becoming a top club DJ and spends many happy hours in his room with best pal Perry (Kathy Burke) mixing thumping tracks like All I Want To Do Is Do It. The two lads are over the moon when Kevin's parents offer them the chance of a holiday in the Mediterranean club capital Ibiza.

MAYBE BABY

(Cert 15, 104 mins)

Sam and Lucy Bell (Hugh Laurie, Joely Richardson) are bright, thirtysomething media darlings who want a baby but can't make one, so they deliver themselves into the hands of Dr James (Rowan Atkinson) who suggests sperm tests and possibly IVF as the way forward. Unfortunately, the endless medical tests soon take their toll on the couple's relationship. Writer-director Ben Elton strikes a pleasing balance between the comedy and drama, fleshing out Sam and Lucy in broad though intimate strokes and slowly gaining our affection and sympathy for them. The laughs are frequent and evolve from the couple's predicament.

POKEMON: The First Movie

(Cert PG, 94 mins)

Possibly one for the kids . . . this is actually two adventures for the price of one: a 20-minute short followed by the full-length main event: Mewtwo Strikes Back. Pikachu's Vacation follows Pokemon trainer Ash Ketchum's loyal and furry friend as he and his Poke-pals relax and have fun in their own private Poke-paradise. Mewtwo Strikes Back is essentially an episode of the television series writ large, with basic animation.

SAVING GRACE

(Cert 15, 94 mins)

Grace Trevethan (Brenda Blethyn) has led a sheltered life, allowing her husband John to handle all of their business affairs while she gets on with the serious business of hosting tea parties for the Women's Institute. Her one real talent is gardening and after John is killed in an accident leaving her short of cash, her gardener Matthew (Craig Ferguson), advises that she starts growing marijuana to save the house from repossession. Blethyn is adorable as worldy unwise Grace, transforming herself into the most unlikely drugs dealer ever to frequent the south coast.

THE TIGGER MOVIE

(Cert U, 77 mins)

The adorably spring-loaded Tigger finally gets his first ever film (as if we needed reminding of what a cheery chappy he is). Some 17 years since the last Winnie The Pooh film was released in theatres, as well made as The Tigger Movie is, it really would be better suited as a straight-to-video film, that families can settle down and dip into together.

TOPSY-TURVY

(Cert 12, 139 mins)

Odd as it sounds, this musical period comedy from director Mike Leigh is a thickly detailed journey into theatrical London in the 1880s, a sweltering summer and the problems assailing comic opera composers Gilbert and Sullivan. Jim Broadbent and Allan Corduner respectively lead an excellent ensemble in an overlong but sensitive and involved film that's as much about the people of the period as the making of the Mikado.

U-571

(Cert 12, 116 mins)

When a German U-boat carrying one of the legendary Enigma code machines is disabled in the Atlantic, the US navy enlists Matthew McConaughey to captain a submarine (disguised as a Nazi vessel) and board the stricken U-boat. Unfortunately, none of the men aboard this craft have any real personality, and are solely defined in terms of their predicament. McConaughey lacks charisma and never comes across as a potential leader of men, but strikes a convincing look of terror and fear when called for. As a big dumb action movie, U-571 delivers most of the requisite thrills and explosions with deceptive ease. For a more substantial and plausible portrait of life beneath the waves, Wolfgang Petersen's 1981 masterpiece Das Boot still reigns supreme.

THE WHOLE NINE YARDS

(Cert 15)

Matthew Perry plays a dentist living in a peaceful Canadian suburb whose business and marriage are on the rocks thanks to the expensive tastes of his spendhappy wife Sophie (Patricia Arquette). Nick's bland life soon changes with the arrival of nextdoor neighbour Jimmy The Tulip Tudeski (Bruce Willis), a renowned hitman and at his wife's insistence, Nick travels to Chicago to shop Jimmy and claim a finder's fee.