The Exorcism of Emily Rose (15)<br></br>Flightplan (12A)<br></br>Mrs Henderson Presents (12A)<br></br>Mad Hot Ballroom (U)

As the lawyers do their bit in court, flashbacks show us Emily's possession / illness, first from a believer's point of view, then from a sceptical one - although the believer's scenes get rather more time than the others. The sequences in which Emily is racked by evil spirits are effectively spooky. But the trial scenes in between them are drawn-out, daft, and ultimately infuriating. The case is presented as a sober debate between faith and reason, one that's dignified by its heavyweight thespians, and by the opening claim that it's "based on a true story" - very loosely based, as it turns out. What we're actually being sold is an egregious piece of anti-rationalist propaganda, a dangerous thing at a time when people are bombing each other's cities because God told them to do it. Naturally, the film has been a major hit in America. But wouldn't it be brave if, just once, Hollywood came down on the side of science, not superstition? It's ironic that Linney and Carpenter first met when they co-starred in a Broadway production of The Crucible, a play about farmers and housewives being condemned and hanged as witches. Had the makers of this film been around in Salem in 1692, they'd have been tying the nooses.

Flightplan 12A

How can a six-year-old girl vanish without trace on a jet airliner 30,000 feet above the Atlantic? That's the million-dollar question posed by Flightplan, a stylish, Hitchcockian mystery thriller.

Jodie Foster reprises her Panic Room role as a mother driven to desperation when no one aboard the plane will admit to having seen the daughter she brought on with her. And with the help of her clenched intensity, the film hums with timeless anxieties about insanity and losing children, plus some timely post 9/11 paranoia. If only the film had stopped after an hour, leaving the viewer to invent their own solution. Instead, it's a million-dollar question with a two-dollar answer - an explanation so nonsensical that it could have been in Airplane. The film's like a joke with a great build-up, spoilt by a groansome punchline.

Mrs Henderson Presents (12A)

Like Flightplan, this is another film of two halves - and the first half is a hoot. It's inspired by the true story of a bored widow, played by Judi Dench, who buys a theatre in 1937, hires Bob Hoskins' hot-headed impresario, and introduces naked girls to its musical revues. It's a cavalcade of Jazz-Age colour and pizzazz. Dame Judi sparkles as the imperious yet mischievous Laura Henderson. Martin Sherman's screenplay is a jewel box of epigrams and put-downs. And, even in a film about nudity, Sandy Powell's splendid costumes are almost guaranteed a Bafta. Alas, once the "Revuedeville" is up and running, Mrs Henderson loses its way, eventually drifting to the conclusion that, during the Blitz, a girly show can "fortify London in a way that sandbags cannot". It's as embarrassing as the sight of a starkers Bob Hoskins.

Mad Hot Ballroom (U)

A must-see for Strictly Come Dancing addicts, this delightful documentary peeks at the the ballroom dancing classes taken by 11-year-old New York schoolchildren. As well as telling us about the foxtrot and the tango, Mad Hot Ballroom offers funny, cautiously optimistic insights into growing up, competitiveness, and the immigrant experience.

n.barber@independent.co.uk