Puffball (18)

Reviewed,Anthony Quinn
Friday 18 July 2008 00:00 BST
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Time was when a new Nicolas Roeg film would have been a proper date for the diary.

Now it's about as welcome as a new Woody Allen. This uncertainly modulated thriller about a young architect (Kelly Reilly) who is renovating a derelict farmhouse in rural Ireland is larded with familiar Roeg details – the imagery of insemination and pregnancy abounds – and a large dose of Celtic mysticism – or twaddle, as you may prefer to call it. Any effect of subtlety is entirely coincidental.

Miranda Richardson plays a jealous neighbour, while Rita Tushingham gurns away as her witchy mother, all gobstopper eyes and fright wig. Even sadder is the appearance of Donald Sutherland, drifting around as Reilly's twinkly mentor but reminding us of his presence in Roeg's seminal opus of yesteryear, Don't Look Now. Don't look at this, either.

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