DANNY COLLINS (15)

4 stars

The greatest actor of his and probably any other generation, Al Pacino, hasn't exactly been setting cinema screens alight in the last decade or more. There's something affecting then in this story of an artist whose star burned brightest in the 1970s, but who is still capable of delivering 40 years down the line.

Today, Danny Collins (Pacino) is still a singing star, but in the intervening decades he's rather abandoned the songwriting craft that made him so beloved in favour of easy pop hits.

In the early 1970s, Danny was a respected singer-songwriter, but now he's basically turned from Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen into Barry Manilow or Neil Diamond, crooning his cheesiest hits to an audience of OAPs. There's poignancy then for those lost years, but seeing Pacino singing on stage is a surprising delight.

As a portrait of an aging rocker, this is a movie that does tick precisely the boxes you might expect, from the drug-fuelled lifestyle to the girlfriend half his age.

But there's a good deal more to it than that, with the main plot kicking off when Danny's manager (Christopher Plummer) reveals to him that John Lennon wrote him a letter when he was an emerging star, offering him help and advice at a time when Danny was finding it difficult to get fully on board with the trappings of stardom.

Inspired by something similar that really happened to British musician Steve Tilston in the 70s, this warm and endearing drama deals with Danny attempting to rediscover his musical integrity.

The discovery of the letter prompts him to rethink his life, cancelling his tour and shacking up in a New Jersey hotel to write new material.

There's a bit of a whiff of Alan Partridge in a Travelodge as Danny banters with the hotel staff, including Annette Bening, with whom he shares some nice scenes.

Striking a well-judged balance between comedy and pathos, there's acerbic humour to begin with and throughout, but there are some real human emotions on display here too.

On top of trying to revitalise his work, Danny is also hoping to reconnect with the family he's never known, including his son (Bobby Cannavale) and granddaughter, and the real Danny Collins is revealed in these moments.

No end of likeable and believable characters pop up throughout, in a film that's moving and not as beholden to formula as it initially appears it might be. Having someone of the calibre of Pacino at the centre of it helps immensely, and his layered, charismatic performance demonstrates that at the age of 75, he still has some mileage in him yet.

Director: Dan Fogelman

Running time: 106 mins

SAN ANDREAS (12A)

3 stars

A disaster movie of the old school, albeit one with lavish amounts of modern technology at its disposal, San Andreas is an enjoyably silly action ride that benefits from lowered expectations and no pretensions of being anything other than fun.

Dwayne Johnson, fresh from revitalising the Fast and Furious franchise, now has to save the whole of California when the San Andreas fault-line decides now is its time to fall into the Pacific, causing an enormous earthquake that wrecks most of the state.

Or more specifically he has to save his daughter (Alexandra Daddario) who is trapped in San Francisco while he and his estranged wife (Carla Gugino) are in Los Angeles.

Johnson is a helicopter rescue pilot who, for reasons not explored, isn't required to actually rescue anyone during the earthquake but instead makes the trip up the coast for his family, delivering well-timed quips along the way.

The blueprint is a familiar one, opening with a rescue scene, followed by some sciencey stuff (Paul Giamatti is the seismologist who sees the quake coming), followed by character intros and family stuff and dealings in personal problems that don't really belong.

It's all filled with honking dialogue that no one would ever say, but really all you're looking for from this kind of thing is pleasing spectacle and some people to care about.

So the Hoover Dam disintegrates, the whole of downtown Los Angeles ripples like a rug and the Golden Gate Bridge gets washed away in scenes that are often properly harrowing.

It's one of those movies where thousands of people are dying off screen, but we deal with only a handful, which is pretty much how it needs to be for focus.

The well spaced out tremors and sequences of peril build in intensity to some quite astonishing levels of devastation once the city starts collapsing, and the CGI is at times miraculous. We're not here for anything else, and in terms of terror and chaos, this cheesy adventure really hits the spot and is every bit as good and as bad as it needs to be.

Director: Brad Peyton

Running time: 114 mins

MAN UP (15)

Director: Ben Palmer

Running time: 88 mins

2 stars

Nancy (Lake Bell), 30-something and single, is always reluctant to be set up by her friends and family when she encounters Jack (Simon Pegg), who mistakes her for the blind date he was supposed to meet.

What follows is one of those romantic comedies built on a misunderstanding, which is fine, but it could be put to rest at any moment.

Still, it's not the worst premise in the world, just horrible in execution, and filled with people whose behaviour is one step removed from reality.

There's an air of desperation here, progressing idiotically through many pointless or ridiculous plot points, while their scenes of bickering are even worse.

Bell puts on a good English accent and is engaging, but Pegg is unsuited to this sort of material, unconvincing as a romantic lead, though a little hope is offered as Nancy and Jack start to realise they might be right for each other.

Unfortunately Man Up is also one of the ugliest films in a while, shot with the glare of a sitcom, and proves once again that the workable rom-com really is an endangered species.