FILM: RECORDED DELIVERY

Wilde (15) PolyGram, rental, 11 May Brian Gilbert's biopic sees the eponymous raconteur wrestling more with his conscience than with young boys. As Wilde, Stephen Fry rejects the spirited interpretations of his predecessors. Instead, the celebrated aphorisms are delivered with solemnity and the quips with melancholic thoughtfulness. As Constance, Jennifer Ehle is given little more to do than hone her martyred smile. But Jude Law's Bosie is scorched to perfection as the archetypal pretty boy - clean, lean, petulant and often poisonously cruel. Shy of revealing Fry from the neck down, the camera generally lingers around Law's buttocks - Wilde watches Bosie and his merry band of "renters", though he shows more discomfort than titillation when first introduced to these cheeky urchins. Nevertheless, Gilbert's take on this over-subscribed story is understated and compellingly fresh. HHHH

Face/Off (18) Buena Vista, rental, 11 May John Travolta is a troubled cop on the trail of a terrorist (Nicolas Cage) in John Woo's lavish thriller. On his capture, Cage's face is implausibly peeled off so that Travolta can assume his identity and extract information from his associates. A catastrophe ensues when Cage miraculously wakens from his coma, slaps on Travolta's face and infiltrates the FBI. Woo fails to take advantage of this potentially interesting plot and disappointingly employs sentimentality to temper the violence. What results is a run-of-the-mill, though mildly entertaining, action-adventure. HH

Marvin's Room (12) Buena Vista, retail, pounds 10.99 On being diagnosed with leukaemia, Bessie's (Diane Keaton) only hope is a bone-marrow transplant, so she calls on her estranged sister, Lee (Meryl Streep), as a donor. Revolving around dysfunctional families and terminal illness, this film is perpetually awash with tears, though the woe is dissipated by some comic moments from Robert De Niro as the bumbling doctor. An agreeable tear-jerker. HHH

GI Jane (15) First Independent, rental, 11 May

At the behest of a senior female politician, Demi Moore endeavours to thrust feminism into the 1990s by matching the brutality of her oppressors and joining the Navy Seals. Reaching a pinnacle of feminist consciousness, she invites her senior officer to "Suck my dick!". Say no more. H