THE GALAS The Damned United
Tom Hooper (Britain)
***
To some, a film about the rise of British football (that is, soccer) manager Brian Clough and his troubled days at Leeds United in 1974 might seem as arcane as championship darts. To others, namely those who spend Saturdays watching Premier League matches, it must sound like pure heaven. In fact, the film is aimed at both and everyone in between. Clough's story is about pure ambition, sport is only its raison d'être. Character actor Michael Sheen (David Frost in Frost/Nixon, Tony Blair in The Queen) carries the film with bracing bravado, as the hot-shot manager rises through the ranks to eventually manage former arch-rival Leeds. Like the novel by David Peace which dramatized Clough's Leeds days, absolute accuracy isn't the point, and Clough's rare moments of uncertainty and alienation can be a tad heavy-handed. Then again, this is human drama in bunker-like changing rooms and soggy pitches, where viewpoints are as subtle as a knee-crushing tackle. Add an extra star rating for footie fans. Guy Dixon
Tonight, 9:30 p.m., Roy Thomson; Sept. 17, 9 a.m., Scotiabank 1
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
The Road
John Hillcoat (USA)
***
Like No Country for Old Men (and unlike everything he'd written before), Cormac McCarthy's The Road cries out for a screen adaptation. Hillcoat's answer to that cry is respectfully faithful to the text and skillfully evocative of its postapocalyptic setting - a frigid world of ashen snow where crops have failed, buildings stand empty, all energy has withered, and no birds sing. There, foraging for scraps and dodging ravenous cannibals, a father and son (Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee) head south to a grey sea, carrying between them the flickering flame of decency and the dying embers of love. The two principals are superb, and the direction is resonant in its very restraint. But there's still something missing, the quality that gave the novel both its gravitas and its near-unbearable poignancy. Which is? Simply the rhythm, the texture, the faint Biblical echoes of McCarthy's prose. With them, The Road is an odyssey; without them, it's a journey.
Rick Groen
Today, 3 p.m., Scotiabank 2 The Hot Ticket
The two best bets tonight are mixers thrown by magazines. Vanity Fair is holding court at One, the swank resto in the Hazelton Hotel. Downtown at Kultura the Canadian-published Argyle magazine has teamed up with Harvey Weinstein, who's always good for bringing out famous faces. Also happening later this evening: a fete for Leaves of Grass at Cheval. The film stars Susan Sarandon and Ed Norton so they're likely to appear at some point. Amy Verner
TIFF ON TV
eTALK (CTV, 7 p.m.)
Interviews with Oprah Winfrey and Mariah Carey about the buzzed-about TIFF entry Precious. Also: Ben Mulroney interviews Drew Barrymore, star of the film Whip It.
ET CANADA (Global, 7 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT).
Coverage of the red-carpet premiere of Precious and the exclusive party for Chloe, starring Julianne Moore. Also: Backstage with Kim Cattrall at the Walk of Fame gala.
SCENE @ THE FESTIVAL
(Rogers TV, 8 and 9:30 p.m.)
Full coverage of the red-carpet galas and behind the scenes at the big parties.
MOVIE ENTERTAINMENT
TIFF HITS
(The Movie Network, 9 p.m.)
Red-carpet interviews from the premiere of Chloe, starring Julianne Moore. Also: Steve Gow interviews the cast of The Invention of Lying.
