FILM: RECORDED DELIVERY

In and Out (12), PolyGram, rental, 14 Aug

Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline) is a small-town teacher who, after a series of delays, is preparing to get married. His blissful plans are disrupted when a former pupil, Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon), now a Hollywood star, receives an Oscar for playing a gay soldier, and outs his former teacher as a homosexual during his acceptance speech. Suddenly Brackett's limp wrist, smart suits and penchant for Barbra Streisand take on a new significance, to the mirth of his pupils and the horror of his family and fiancee. Frank Oz's well-intentioned comedy is not only predictable but is full of unanswered questions - not least, how does Drake know about such a fundamental part of Brackett's character when Brackett himself has not even discovered it? Nor do you get the feeling that Brackett really is gay, he is just a series of textbook homosexual affectations that fashion most enlightened, self-respecting Nineties men today. HH

Resurrection Man (18) PolyGram, rental, 10 Aug

Mark Evans's menacing adaptation of Eoin McNamee's novel follows the terrifyingly violent exploits of the Shankhill butchers in Seventies Belfast. Prepossessing gangster Victor Kelly (Stuart Townsend) heads a group of Loyalist killers who randomly pluck men off the street to torture and kill them. In his pursuit of nefarious glory, Kelly steps up the bloodlust as a local journalist (James Nesbitt) takes an interest. Rather insensitively, Evans' picture sporadically resorts to camp caricature to portray the amorality of its theme - Kelly's coke-snorting Svengali swaggers about in a Gestapo cap as he flirts with his protege. Those wishing to be enlightened on the situation in Northern Ireland will be unsatisfied, as political context is stripped away in favour of unmitigated cruelty. Not for the faint-hearted. HH

Paws (U) VVL, rental, 14 Aug

A cast plucked from Neighbours, cardboard cut-out scenery and, disappointingly, the voice of Billy Connolly shape this uninspiring kiddie pleaser. Having entrusted his fortune to his canine companion, a dog owner meets an untimely end as an Icelandic criminal tries to get her hands on his money. Subsequently, the dog runs off with the loot (in the form of a floppy disc) and uses a PC to synthesise a voice. Shame on you, Connolly. HH