THE WAY **** (121 minutes) PG
Martin Sheen shines in a beautifully made, unforced tale of spiritual reawakening and self-discovery that is as life-affirming as it is entertaining. Sheen plays suburban optometrist Tom Avery whose son - played by his real-life son Emilio Estevez, who wrote and directed the film - dies while walking the "Camino de Santiago", the legendary trek to the Spanish cathederal where the remains of the apostle St James are. In tribute, he undertakes the journey and en route hooks up with a cynical Canadian woman (Deborah Kara Unger), a jokey, over-weight Dutchman (Yorick van Wageningen, very different here than he is in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!) and an Irish author with writer's block (James Nesbitt). The soul-repairing power of faith underscores the film, but what really sells the film are the liberal doses of humour.     

CAFE DE FLORE ** (121 minutes) MA
There are two parallel stories in this French film, but only one is interesting. In late-1960s Paris a loving, lone mother (Vanessa Paradis) copes with her troublesome son (Marin Gerrier) who has Down syndrome. This engrossing story is intercut with the far-less-compelling contemporary tale of a DJ (Kevin Parent) struggling with a messy domestic life involving his ex-wife (Évelyne Brochu), his new lover (Évelyne Brochu) and his unruly teenage kids. It's an overlong film that half works.

THE AVENGERS ***1/2 (141 minutes) M
Having each headlined their own films, Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) team up to mount an epic fight against Thor's evil brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who wants to enslave the earth. New York is again the battleground - is there not any other city that can take a cinematic pounding? - and the massive, impressive action sequences are everything you'd expect from a super-hero block party. Large dollops of comic-book humour help turn the cogs of this mega-franchise carnival of visual effects that owes more to Michael Bay's Transformers films than it is comfortable to admit. But while it reflects a movie culture that has traded originality for scale - one wonders if there's a shred of originality anywhere in the film  - The Avengers is grand, throwaway fun.
 
Opening Thursday...

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 3D **** (85 minutes) G
Fatigued as many people are by 3D, Disney have come up trumps with this extra-dimensional re-release of their 1991 animated musical game-changer. The classic tale of the cursed beast who must learn to love in order to revert back to human form was the first animated film to be nominated for a best film Oscar and played to adult audiences as well as children. Made at a time when hand-drawn animation still ruled, the film incorporates digital elements but is essentially an old-school classic that looks greater than ever thanks to a state-of-the-art 3D conversion.   

DELICACY *** (105 minutes) M
Absolutely charming French romantic comedy about a grief-stricken woman (Audrey Tautou) who unexpectedly plants a kiss on an unattractive, unsuspecting colleague (François Damiens), turning his world, and his image of himself, upside down. Though their relationship doesn't blossom much beyond a friendship, it's a satisfying, feather-light serving of romantic whimsy. Bets are now on to see how long it'll take Hollywood to remake it with Katherine Heigl and Danny DeVito.    

KING OF DEVIL'S ISLAND *** (116 minutes) M
The ubiquitous Stellan Skarsgard headlines the gruelling, factually based story of a remote Norwegian reformatory for delinquent boys where the abuse of authority grinds against their impulse for violent rebellion. Very good but very heavy, the film's chilly, snow-blasted environs accurately reflect the tale's dour tone.

ACT OF VALOR **1/2 (109 minutes) MA
Made with the full co-operation and approval of the American military, this flag-waving slice of very slick army porn offers to show what real combat is like. It boasts a cast made up of real soldiers who embark on several missions to prevent a terrorist attack on US soil. It's very much a conventional thrill-ride action movie, though the claims to realism are undercut by too many video-game point-of-view shots as the soldiers engage the enemy. In terms of celebrating American military might, the film makes a good companion piece to Battleship.      

THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH * (80 minutes) M
Dreadful, dreary, half-baked yawnfest in which an American loser (Ethan Hawke) tries reconnecting with his daughter despite the opposition of his bitter former spouse (Joanna Kulig). The usually terrific Kristin Scott Thomas somehow got involved. Based on the novel by Douglas Kennedy.

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