Top Tv with Barry Ronge

Will Smith's efforts to distance himself from the wise-cracking, cool, black-dude image that launched him into stardom have produced a varied career.

He's done dramas and thrillers, even major sci-fi epics, but with Seven Pounds he seems to have reached a crossroads. Smith hasn't made any films since its release three years ago and no new projects have been announced. There are strong rumours that Smith is getting ready to take up a political career, so it's interesting that this film deals with social responsibility, integrity and self-sacrifice.

In this drama he plays Ben, a man who carries a burden from his past who has chosen to perform certain actions before he can move on to the next phase of his life. He finds seven people and using a degree of manipulation - even deception - he prepares them for what will come next. Most think he's a tax assessor auditing their back taxes, but others see a different side of him. Does he have good intentions or bad? And if they are bad, just how bad are they going to be?

The film takes a little more time to get going than is necessary, but if you stick it out to the end, the final revelation is worth the wait.

• Will smith talks about his character in Seven Pounds @ www.timesurl.at/e59eca

• CLASSIC
• BREAKER MORANT
• Sunday, SABC3, 22:15

In the '80s, the Australian film industry experienced a boom that put its actors and movies firmly on the map of international cinema. Breaker Morant was one such film, winning a string of awards, including an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

It's about an incident in South African history. Australia was part of the British Empire, and that meant Australian soldiers were sent to fight wherever the British were waging a war; in this case, the Boer war. Lord Kitchener was lobbying for a peace conference with the Boer army, and he thought that if he meted out harsh punishment to his own soldiers, the Boer commanders would believe he was a fair man.

Three soldiers, including Lieutenant Harry "Breaker" Morant, were accused of murdering "defenceless" Boer prisoners. The Australian soldiers were, therefore, executed in an act of judicial murder that had far-reaching historical consequences.

Top Aussie actors like Bryan Brown and Jack Thompson became international stars, as did Edward Woodward. This is quintessential Australian cinema and the local angle gives it a special significance.

ROMANTIC COMEDY

• WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON
• Thursday, e.tv, 20:00

If you enjoy light-hearted, candy-floss movies, make a batch of popcorn and settle down to a romantic farce about stars and stardom. Two outrageous Hollywood publicity agents, played with dizzying skill by Nathan Lane and Sean Hayes, put together a competition in which a naïve young woman, Rosalee (Kate Bosworth), wins a date with a popular rising star, Tad Hamilton (Josh Duhamel, pictured). She is obviously delighted but her best friend Pete (Topher Grace) is less happy as he is trying to find the courage to tell Rosalee that he loves her.

In films like this the formula usually dictates that the movie star is a jerk who expects something in return for showing up. However, director Robert Luketic pulls a switch: Tad Hamilton is actually a nice guy who likes Rosalee so much that he moves to her little town - to the hilarious distress of the publicists. Will Rosalee fall for Tad? Will Pete try to win her with his own professions of love? And is Tad really more interested in Rosalee than his career? You know the answers to those questions from the start, but charming actors and a sharp script keep it from falling into the swill of cliche.

STAR FOCUS: MERYL STREEP

• DOUBT
• Monday, M-Net, 21:30
• KRAMER VS KRAMER
• Sunday, e.tv, 22:20

Fans of Meryl Streep, pictured, will enjoy a double-bill of her movies that really span her career. Kramer vs Kramer (1979) was her first Oscar win (as Best Supporting Actress). It's a heartfelt family drama in which she plays opposite Dustin Hoffman as a disillusioned wife who walks out on an empty marriage, leaving the husband to cope with the task of raising his son. Her departure has an enormous effect on his life and career but, after he has made major adjustments his ex-wife demands custody of the child. The court battle that ensues creates a potent drama in which Streep and Hoffman give superb performances.

Then there's Doubt, a powerful drama set in a convent school. A priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is accused of making sexual advances on one of the young boys. The flinty, intolerant Sister Aloyisius (Streep) instantly assumes that he is guilty, but a younger nun (Amy Adams) has doubts about his guilt. These three performers turn this religious drama into something very much like a thriller, and when the boy's mother (Viola Davis) confronts Sister Aloyisius, the film twists in another direction. It's a stark film, brilliantly acted, with all four actors receiving Oscar nominations. Watching these two films, you'll notice Streep's genius and how her talent has matured.

BIOPIC

• BEYOND THE SEA
• Wednesday, MM2, 20:00

Kevin Spacey is not just a superlative screen actor. He has written scripts, acted as a producer and, on occasion, directed. However, Beyond the Sea is considered something of a lost film. It was released in the US and gained short release in the UK, but for the most part it went straight to DVD. This disappointed many fans, not only of Spacey, but also of the great singer and showman Bobby Darin, as it was a biography of his career.

The film shows him at the peak of his success as a night-club star. But the flashbacks reveal a very different story about his life. The film also shows the problems with what the Hollywood press called "The Dream Couple". Kate Bosworth does a great job playing Sandra Dee, "America's Sweetheart", who had addiction problems and chronic insecurity. Kevin Spacey was a revelation as Darin, handling the songs with skill, and as director he controlled the drama with flair.

The few who saw it thought it was a pretty good movie.