Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (12). Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Pryce, Jack Davenport, Mackenzie Crook.

Evil Captain Barbossa (Rush) and his crew of salty sea-dogs are victims of an ancient curse which leaves them stranded somewhere between life and death.

Every night, they sail the high seas, visible only as skeletons, desperately searching for the plundered treasure which will break the curse and restore them to their human form.

When Barbossa discovers that the final stolen gold medallion hangs around the neck of young beauty Elizabeth Swann (Knightley), he kidnaps the girl and sets out to sea on his ship, the Black Pearl, bound for the mysterious Isla de Muerta.

Elizabeth's secret suitor Will Turner (Bloom) joins forces with roguish yet charming pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) (pictured) and a ragtag crew to beat Barbossa to the island.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl is hugely entertaining, almost by sole virtue of Depp's idiosyncratic theatrics.

Dressed in a bandana and gold chains, with mascara smeared around his twinkling eyes, he swaggers through every preposterous twist and turn, delivering bon mots in a cod English accent that rouses laughs all by itself.

Rush gives as good as he gets in return as the villainous cur of the piece and Knightley is a spirited and spunky heroine.

The only weak link is Bloom's dashing hero, who swashes plenty of buckle but comes across as something of an impetuous drip.

The Man Who Sued God (15). Billy Connolly, Judy Davis, Wendy Hughes, Blair Venn, Emily Browning, Bille Brown, Vincent Ball.

Steve Myers (Connolly) (pictured) is a former lawyer who survived the disintegration of his marriage to Jules (Hughes) by retreating from society, and eking out a meagre living as a fisherman in his adoptive home of Australia.

Disaster strikes during a storm when lightning hits Steve's boat and completely destroys the vessel, which doubles as his floating home.

When his insurance company refuses to pay out, using a legal loophole reserved for an 'Act of God', Steve re-registers as a lawyer and takes the matter to court.

However, he doesn't decide to attack the insurance company. Instead, he decides to sue the other party, God.

Since The Almighty cannot take the witness stand to refute Steve's claims, the churches are called to mount a defence, and the dastardly Cardinal (Ball) hires his good friend, Machiavellian lawyer Gerry Ryan (Brown).

The case inevitably rouses the interest of the media, and in particular newspaper reporter Anna Redmond (Davis), who pledges her support to bring the multi-nationals to justice.

The Man Who Sued God reduces a smart, satirical premise to a routine courtroom drama, threaded with a misfiring romantic comedy subplot.

Connolly brings his trademark roguish charm to his central role, immediately endearing himself to us as he risks everything to score a moral victory in the face of overwhelming odds.

Davis brings an edginess to her career journalist, who seems to have a smart reply for every argument.

The burgeoning romance of Steve and Anna isn't entirely convincing despite the best efforts of Connolly and Davis to generate sexual friction.

Published: ??/??/2003