High stakes in ransom games

NINETEEN years after they collaborated on Inside Man, director Spike Lee and actor Denzel Washington return to work together for a fifth time, with Highest 2 Lowest, a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller, High and Low.

High-flying music producer David King (Washington) and his wife Pam (Ilfenesh Hadera) live in prime New York real estate with their teenage son, basketball player Trey.

When the music mogul is subjected to a ransom plot with an underlying case of mistaken identity, he has to weigh up what is worth sacrificing or saving.

The film, out today at the Regal Picturehouse in Henley, also stars Jeffrey Wright, Elijah Wright and A$AP Rocky and has a running time of two hours and 14 minutes.

In The Roses (15), Ivy (Olivia Colman) and Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch) appear to be the perfect couple. However, tensions are building behind the scenes as while Theo’s career is hitting a nadir, Ivy is reaching new heights of success. Despite raising great children, the once-happy marriage implodes and fireworks are set off. The film has a running time of one hour and 45 minutes.

An adaptation of Richard Osman’s hit novel, The Thursday Murder Club (12A), directed by Chris Columbus, is out now.

Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie are four amateur detectives, whose investigation into cold cases suddenly turns hot with the discovery of a present-day body. They rope in a police constable played by Naomi Ackie to help. The film has a running time of just under two hours.

Ackie also appears in Sorry, Baby (15) alongside its writer and director, Eva Victor. Agnes (Victor) and her best friend Lydie (Ackie) are united in trauma. As Agnes stalls, Lydie and others rally round. The film has a running time of an hour and 43 minutes.