DVD: The Agent (15)

A hard-nosed literary agent tells his hard-done-by wannabe author that his characters are "a little unreal".

Sadly, you can't help but apply the same criticism to the film. Martin Wagner's script – originally a stage play – feels overwritten. The acting is overblown, while the cinematography is often self-advertising; there's ambition here, but it doesn't quite cohere. When the author decides to blackmail his agent into creating a bidding war around his new novel, tension mounts. There are a few sharp moments, and some twists and turns, but it feels like most of the film is spent watching two characters stride around offices, having great declamatory rants about the difficulties of writing and the cynicism of the publishing industry