"Director: Luis Mandoki"

• Innocent Voices | DVD | (06/11/2006) from £12.01   |  Saving you £7.98 (66.44%)   |  RRP £19.99

  More than 300 000 children presently serve in armies in over 40 countries. Based on the true story of screenwriter Oscar Torres's embattled childhood Luis Mandoki's Innocent Voices is the poignant tale of Chava (Carlos Padilla) an eleven-year-old boy who suddenly becomes the ""man of the house"" after his father abandons the family in the middle of a civil war. In El Salvador in the 1980s the government's armed forces are already recruiting twelve year olds rousting them out of their classes at the local middle school. If he is lucky Chava has just one year of innocence left one year before he too will be conscripted to fight the government's battle against the peasant rebels of the FMLN. Chava's life becomes a game of survival not only from the bullets of the escalating war but also from the dispiriting effects of daily violence. As he hustles to find work to help his single mother pay the bills and experiences the pangs of first love for a beautiful classmate Chava's tiny home village becomes both playground and battlefield. Armed only with the love of his mother (Leonor Varela) and a small radio that broadcasts a forbidden anthem of love and peace and faced with the impossible choice of joining either the army or the rebels Chava finds the courage to keep his heart open and his spirit alive in his race against time.

• Message In A Bottle | DVD | (18/10/1999) from £7.19   |  Saving you £6.80 (94.58%)   |  RRP £13.99

  If, as they say, you're in a certain mood, Message in a Bottle can be just the ticket. Based on Nicholas Sparks' bestselling novel, this handsome but overly calculated romantic tale stars Robin Wright Penn as Theresa, a Chicago Tribune researcher who finds a note encased in a green bottle that has floated onto a Cape Cod shore. The message within is a heartfelt, yearning declaration of love to a woman named Catherine but the author is unknown until Theresa (rather improbably) tracks him down in North Carolina. He's Garret Blake (Kevin Costner), a taciturn builder of sailboats and a grieving widower whose late wife, poetically speaking, was the intended recipient of the seafaring note Theresa found. Theresa, a divorcée with a son, decides to meet Garret, only to find him as bottled-up as his message. Nevertheless, a romance blooms on the strength of quality time in a sailboat and lots of cuddling, though the script tosses in bits of conflict to keep their relationship spicy. Directed by Luis Mandoki (When a Man Loves a Woman), this love story is entirely by the numbers, with Costner inhabiting (rather than performing) a stock fantasy of a man perfect in every way save his broken heart. Penn brings more vibrancy to her equally predictable part but fortunately for all, Paul Newman, John Savage, Robbie Coltrane and Illeana Douglas are on hand in nicely textured character parts. Sometimes predictability is exactly what one wants when settling in for an evening of home video, and this movie fits the bill nicely. The appealing cinematography is by ace cameraman Caleb Deschanel. --Tom Keogh

• When A Man Loves A Woman | DVD | (05/02/2001) from £8.83   |  Saving you £6.16 (69.76%)   |  RRP £14.99

  When a Man Loves a Woman is a dumb title (not another classic pop song, please) for a very smart movie. A kind of gender-switch take on The Lost Weekend, it's about a woman (Meg Ryan) whose alcoholism almost destroys her family. That may sound like just another TV movie, but When a Man Loves a Woman is so authentic in detail and emotion, that everything about it seems fresh, urgent, and engrossing. That's because the film is grounded in the actual experience of co-writer Al Franken (assisted by Rain Man scripter Ronald Bass). Franken is best known for his affiliation with Saturday Night Live and Politically Incorrect, and as the author of Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot, and Other Observations. You may recall that Franken is the creator of Stuart Smalley, 12-step programmer extraordinaire. Well, if you want to know how Stuart was born, you can start here. This is no comedy, however. In fact, one of the most painful realisations comes when attractive, "good-time girl" Alice Green (Ryan) and her husband (Andy Garcia) begin to realise how much of a role alcohol played in their marriage and in bringing them together in the first place. The issues and experiences confronted in this movie go far beyond the stuff you see on daytime TV. --Jim Emerson

• Nicholas Sparks - 3 Film Collection | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £5.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (183.64%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Triple bill of romantic dramas adapted from the novels by Nicholas Sparks. In 'The Lucky One' (2012) US Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault (Zac Efron) returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq clutching a photograph of a woman he has never met, which he has come to see as the good luck charm that has kept him alive. After some investigation he learns that the woman's name is Beth (Taylor Schilling), finds out where she lives and ends up getting a job at the kennels run by her family. Despite Beth's initial skepticism and various obstacles in her life, the two gradually become closer, leading Logan to hope that Beth could become far more to him than just a good luck charm. In 'Nights in Rodanthe' (2008) Adrienne Willis (Diane Lane) retreats to the small coastal town of Rodanthe in North Carolina to take stock of her life and decide whether or not to continue with her unhappy marriage. The only other resident at her guest house is Dr Paul Flanner (Richard Gere), who has travelled to the town in an attempt to reconcile with his estranged son. As a major storm engulfs the town, the two find solace in each other, and so begins a romance that will alter the course of both their lives. In 'Message in a Bottle' (1999) Theresa Osborne (Robin Wright Penn) is a successful journalist who discovers a bottle washed up upon the shore. The bottle contains a heartfelt love letter to an unknown woman called Catherine and signed 'G'. Theresa publishes the letter in the Chicago Tribune, and it transpires that other letters have been found, presumably by the same author. When Theresa investigates further, she tracks down the writer of the letters, a sailboat builder named Garret Blake (Kevin Costner), whose wife died two years ago during childbirth. A tentative romance develops between Garret and Theresa, but he remains unaware that she knows of the lost letters and that she was the journalist who published them...Based on: The novels by Nicholas Sparks Technical Specs: Languages(s): Engl

• Trapped | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £15.67   |  Saving you £-5.68 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  When their daughter is kidnapped by a pair of experienced nappers (Kevin Bacon and Courtney Love), the Jennings Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend) turn the tables on their seemingly foolproof plan.

• White Palace | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Glenn Savan's depressing and self-loathing novel about a 27-year-old upper-class Jewish widower mired in self-pity after his beloved wife dies, and who finds love and sexual rebirth with a trailer-trash older woman, was brought to the big screen by the competent director Luis Mandoki (When a Man Loves a Woman, Message in a Bottle). But the savage irony in Savan's book has been face-lifted by screenwriters Ted Tally (The Silence of the Lambs) and Alvin Sargent (Ordinary People) into something else entirely: what passes for low-rent "slumming" in Hollywood means hiring sexy Susan Sarandon to play Nora Baker, the poor, uneducated 43-year-old waitress in a White Palace burger joint who strikes up an unlikely relationship with sad Max Baron (James Spader). Widower Max attends a bachelor party for best pal Neil (Jason Alexander) and discovers that the local White Palace has stiffed the boys a whopping six burgers. Max barges into the joint, bent on getting his money back, and meets a testy Nora, who is bemused at the young man's insolence. While driving home, Max stops abruptly at a bar for a drink. Inside, Nora is nursing a vodka and takes a shine to the tuxedo-clad, handsome, and morose younger man. He gives her a lift, she seduces him, and the rest of the movie examines how two such opposites in manners and morals can find happiness. The only common bond they have is great sex and a private tragedy. White Palace nudges at the dark journey and the smashing of illusion that was at the heart of the novel, but there is still a fairy-tale element to the film that negates the earthy essence that distinguished the book. In Mandoki's vision, White Palace is about overcoming class, family, and outside opinion to find true love. In Savan's book, Max wastes into decline while Nora ultimately thrives in the quest for truth, redemption, and self-forgiveness. She becomes his salvation only after he stops hating himself. But mainstream Hollywood shuns making "protagonists" so mad, bad, or sad, and as such, too much glitter is tossed on Spader, while Sarandon, as usual, is the only one who seems to embody and understand her character's angst. She deserved her Oscar for Nora, not the nun in Dead Man Walking. --Paula Nechak

• The Bodyguard/Rumour Has it/Message in a Bottle Triple Pack | DVD | (10/09/2012) from £9.29   |  Saving you £10.70 (115.18%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In her spectacular film debut Houston plays Rachel Marron a superstar at her peak. Costner plays Frank Farmer the security expert with whom she falls in love.

• Angel Eyes | DVD | (25/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  When Chicago police officer Sharon Pogue (Jennifer Lopez) is saved from a bullet by a mysterious stranger, it proves a life-changing experience.

• White Palace | Blu Ray | (30/10/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Still getting over the death of his wife, a young advertising executive meets an older waitress, a woman that might set him free.

• Message In A Bottle / Tin Cup | DVD | (24/04/2006) from £16.22   |  Saving you £-2.24 (N/A%)   |  RRP £10.99

  Message In A Bottle: Grieving widower Garret Blake builds boats for a living. Rebuilding his life - that's another matter. But that's before Theresa Osborne comes to his North Carolina village. Theresa a lonely divorcee and researcher for the Chicago Tribune knows Garret is the author of the message she found inside a bottle on Cape Cod beach. And she knows the message spoke to her in a way that profoundly touched her heart. Kevin Costner as Garret and Robin Wright Penn as T

• Born Yesterday | DVD | (10/08/2004) from £23.99   |  Saving you £-9.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The story of a Las Vegas showgirl whose lack of sophistication worries her boyfriend. He fears her ignorance will ruin his business opportunities. He hires an intelligent journalist to educate her in the ways of the world but she soon learns there is more to life than mink coats and diamond rings.

• Trapped | DVD | (27/08/2007) from £11.35   |  Saving you £1.63 (19.50%)   |  RRP £9.99

  When their daughter is kidnapped by a pair of experienced nappers (Kevin Bacon and Courtney Love), the Jennings Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend) turn the tables on their seemingly foolproof plan.

• The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas | DVD | (18/01/2016) from £6.98   |  Saving you £8.00 (160.32%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Honduran teenager Sabina Rivas (Greisy Mena) dreams of becoming a famous singer. She wants to travel to the United States in hope of realising her dream, and to distance herself from her boyfriend turned vicious gang member Jovany (Fernando Moreno). However, to do so she must travel across Mexico, with its brothels, ruthless gangs, drug trafficking and corrupt migratory agents. At the Mexican-Guatemalan border Sabina and Jovany, who has committed all necessary atrocities required to be accepted by the Mara Salvatrucha gang, meet again. Sabina's lack of any documents, passport or visa are preventing her from crossing, and she is forced to work for a brothel run by Doña Lita (Angelina Peláez), who does not want her to leave. The only person who can help her escape this life is her best customer and confessor Mexican Consul Don Nico (Miguel Flores), who infatuated by her beauty and innocence does not want her to leave either. However, Sabina believes that if she does everything she is told to do, she will eventually end up with that coveted Mexican visa. Winner of Best Supporting Actress (Angeline Pelaez), Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects at the Ariel Awards in Mexico in 2013, this dramatic story on the darker side of Mexico is adapted from Rafael Ramirez Heredia's novel La Mara.

• Beaches/When A Man Loves A Woman | DVD | (05/11/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Beaches: (Dir. Garry Marshall) (1988): Two very different young girls meet on a beach in a 1950s American resort. CC Bloom (Bette Midler) is a brash confident minx determined to make it in the glitzy world of show business. Hillary (Barbara Hershey) is a wealthy restrained and privileged WASP who seems destined for a life as a trophy wife. Against all odds their friendship survives through broken marriages diverging careers and the trials of life. When A Man Loves A Woman: (Dir. Luis Mandoki) (1997): Alice and Michael Green are a passionate couple who have worked hard to build a good life for themselves and their two young daughters. But a dark secret from Alice's past is about to surface - a secret that threatens to destroy them as lovers as a family and as individuals.

• Trapped | DVD | (06/04/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  When their daughter is kidnapped by a pair of experienced nappers (Kevin Bacon and Courtney Love), the Jennings Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend) turn the tables on their seemingly foolproof plan.