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***
Dir: Lone Scherfig (15, 117 mins)
A crowd pleasing comedy drama with an occasionally grating Welsh accent as Gemma Arterton struggles to make her voice heard in the film world of 1940s Britain. Teamed with screenwriter Sam Claflin, she is tasked with making some upbeat propaganda films to help with the war effort by Richard E Grant’s pompous head of the Film Division. They settle on a tale of twins who sailed their boat to help out in the mass evacuation of France at Dunkirk, with Arterton charged with fashioning the slop / women dialogue. Love rears its head, Bill Nighy charms as an ageing actor brought in for the production and a cheery sentimentality about the plucky British spirit prevails. Director Scherfig happily pushes all the emotional buttons as various British character actors from Jeremy Irons to Eddie Marsan, Helen McCrory to Rachel Stirling do their usual stuff. Formulaic but enjoyable, with Arterton still managing to shine despite her sing song Welsh accent.
Opens April 21