Eleanor Reviews

*** DVD Release Based on Robert Harris’ novel of the same name, Enigma follows troubled code-breaker, Tom Jericho, as he simultaneously tries to decode the Nazi’s new Enigma Code and track down his missing lover, Claire. As he, and Claire’s best friend, Hester, delve deeper in Claire’s disappearance, it becomes apparent that Tom’s work has come into play in his private life… This film has such an old-fashioned, Sunday-afternoon feel to it – there are few explosions or violent scenes, instead endless scenes of the grounds around Bletchley Park and rooms in desperate need of a spring clean. Dougray Scott is Tom Jericho, the desperately unwell and generally disliked genius who breaks the Enigma Code every day. Scott looks fittingly unwell as the deeply depressed genius, Jericho, but his character’s complete mental break down after Claire’s rejection, who he had only known for one month, seems somewhat strange. I don’t know if his mental fragility is studied in more depth i

**/*** (2.5 stars) Hercules is a demi-god, born of Zeus and a mortal woman. Despite Hera’s, Zeus’ wife, attempts to destroy him, Hercules grows into an impossibly strong warrior, capable of great feats of strength and stamina. His completion of the Twelve Labours set him by Hera become famed throughout the land, and soon his god-like skill is sought by those in need of military assistance. Being a demi-god, he cannot be defeated and will quash any enemy he is set against… or so the legend says. In a departure from the usual Hercules films, Brett Ratner’s film instead chooses to look upon Hercules as being a human being, gifted with great strength but not the son of a God. Instead of working alone, he works with a team of misfits, sell-swords who will fight for whoever is prepared to pay them the most. Instead of a magical Ancient Greece, Ratner chooses to show a ‘realistic’ world wherein optical illusions create fantastical beasts. I suppose it’s an unusual idea, but it do