This week's new cinema reviews

A Prophet (18) (Jacques Audiard, 2009, France) Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif. 155 mins Arriving pre-garlanded with awards and acclaim, this French movie certainly demands seeing, though it's less a radical reinvention of the prison thriller genre than a rock-solid update (with the odd mystical touch). The key innovation is that our selected inmate is a French Arab, who painfully progresses from timid newcomer to hardened player, negotiating between ethnic factions both inside and out. It's an extreme story in every sense, but newcomer Rahim carries the weight magnificently, and it stays rooted in present-day reality without feeling the need to ram a message down our throats about it. The Boys Are Back (12A) (Scott Hicks, 2009, Aus/UK) Clive Owen, Nicholas McAnulty. 104 mins Owen opens up and shows his sensitive side as a blokey sports journalist in Australia, trying to cope with single fatherhood, and reconciling his two sons by different women. He handles the challenge with a permissive approach that will doubtless appal many parents, and it's inevitably a sentimental affair, but it stays close enough to real life to earn its high Kleenex count. Brothers (15) (Jim Sheridan, 2010, US) Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire. 105 mins A topical but terminally melodramatic take on (American) casualties of the Afghanistan war, remade from a rougher Danish original. Ex-convict Gyllenhaal cosies up to the wife and children of his respectable soldier brother (Maguire) after he's presumed killed in action, but the complications begin when Maguire returns, traumatised and suspicious. Ninja Assassin (18) (James McTeigue, 2009, US) Rain, Naomie Harris, Ben Miles. 99 mins This dismemberment-happy, special effects-enhanced ninja flick would have been way cool about 10 years ago, but it takes itself too seriously and depends too heavily on action to be anything more than an absurd guilty pleasure. Armoured (12A) (Nimród Antal, 2009, US) Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, Jean Reno. 85 mins A no-nonsense thriller in which guards plan to rob their own armoured car, and inevitably run into complications – not least the fact that one of them develops a conscience. It's hardly ground-breaking, but more effective than most. Blur: No Distance Left To Run (NC) (Dylan Southern, 2010, UK) 104 mins Documentary on the band's recent reunion and historic musical differences that's nicely shot but of little consequence to the wider non-Blur-crazy public. Burlesque Undressed (15) (Alison Grist, 2009, UK) Immodesty Blaize. 89 mins Self-promoting (it was produced by Blaize) and unquestioning documentary on the sophisticated end of stripping, and how it's going mainstream. Again. Veer (PG) (Anil Sharma, 2010, India) Salman Khan, Zarine Khan. 161 mins Vast battle epic in which Rajasthani warrior Khan repels the devious 19th-century Brits. Toy Story 2 3D (PG) (John Lasseter, 1999, US) Tom Hanks, Tim Allen. 92 mins A 3D update for Pixar's lively but homely sequel. OUT FROM FRIDAY The Princess And The Frog Disney retouches its roots with an old-school animation, set in 1920s New Orleans. Precious: A Novel By Sapphire Hard-hitting tale of a black teenager with the odds stacked against her. Edge Of Darkness Cop Mel Gibson goes rogue when his daughter is killed in Martin Campbell's thriller. Adoration Twisty tale of lies and terrorism from Atom Egoyan. Breathless Tough Korean gangster thriller. Our Beloved Month Of August Portuguese fusion of fiction and documentary. Horses Documentary tracking three racehorses. Late Autumn Ozu drama on a single daughter and her well-intentioned mother. COMING SOON In two weeks ... Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela in Invictus … Michael Cera is still the loser who gets the girl in Youth In Revolt … In three weeks ... Colin Firth leads Tom Ford's stylish A Single Man … Benicio del Toro was born to play The Wolfman … In a month ... Jeff Bridges's Golden Globe-winning Crazy Heart … Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones …