Capsule reviews for April 4

Alan Partridge

Steve Coogan brings his longtime British sitcom character to the big screen in this frequently hilarious adaptation should please both fans and newcomers. The story has the disgraced former television host and self-serving disc jockey becoming an unlikely hero — in his own obnoxious and long-winded way — after a colleague (Colm Meaney) takes the station hostage following corporate layoffs. There are some script pitfalls at feature length, but Coogan’s performance manages to be both slimy and sympathetic in the title role. Plus, the snappy film has the sense not to resort to action-thriller formula when it takes its main character out of his usual element. (Rated R, 90 minutes).

Dom Hemingway

A handful of hilariously vulgar one-liners aren’t enough to rescue this caustic comedy in which Jude Law plays the title character, an arrogant and ill-tempered safecracker who is released after spending 12 years in a London prison, when he reunites with his mild-mannered sidekick (Richard E. Grant) for revenge against some gangsters who owe him money. There’s also a redemption subplot involving Dom’s estranged daughter (Emilia Clarke), but despite an energetic portrayal by Law, his character in the script by director Richard Shepard (The Matador) is so obnoxious that any emotional connection seems impossible. He feels like an escaped bit player from a Guy Ritchie movie. (Rated R, 93 minutes).

50 to 1

Those were the long-shot odds for 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, whose story is chronicled in this predictably crowd-pleasing biopic that follows the diminutive thoroughbred on his rags-to-riches story, which included being taken from New Mexico to Kentucky in a trailer prior to the race. While the stylish re-creation of the action on the track should please racing aficionados, the film draws too much attention to the story of the horse’s hard-luck trainer (Skeet Ulrich) and ownership group, thanks to a script littered with embellishments and underdog clichés. It might have been better to keep the film focused on the animals with four legs. (Rated PG-13, 110 minutes).