I Capture The Castle (PG) Stars: Romola Garai, Henry Thomas, Bill Nighy, Rose Byrne, Tara FitzGerald

DODIE Smith's coming of age adventure has been enthralling readers of all ages for more than 50 years. Tim Fywell's film adaptation does not disappoint, blessed with a charming lead performance from newcomer Romola Garai as the precocious, wise-beyond-her-years heroine.

Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain (Garai) lives in a crumbling English castle with her novelist father James (Nighy), nudist step-mother Topaz (FitzGerald) and self-obsessed older sister Rose (Byrne).

Life alters drastically when American brothers Simon and Neil Cotton (Thomas, Blucas) inherit the crumbling estate on which the Mortmains live. Both men fall under the spell of Rose, who agrees to marry Simon - heir to Sir William Cotton's vast fortune. However, she harbours dark desires for Neil. I Capture The Castle unfolds from Cassandra's perspective, underscored with a voiceover reciting entries from her diary. Heidi Thomas's screenplay retains all of Dodie Smith's witty prose, such as the heroine's scornful attitude towards romance: ''I know all about the facts of life... and I don't think much of them.''

Hope Springs (12) Stars: Colin Firth, Heather Graham, Minnie Driver, Mary Steenburgen

BRITISH portrait artist Colin Ware (Firth) receives a wedding invitation from his gorgeous well-to-do fiancee Vera (Driver)... to someone else. Plunged to the absolute depths of misery, Colin flees to the small Vermont town of Hope, where he takes up lodgings at the town's only motel, the Battlefield Inn, run by Joanie (Steenburgen) and her husband Fisher (Collison). Ever the match-maker, Joanie attempts to lift Colin from his gloom by setting him up with eccentric local nurse Mandy (Graham). Sparks fly and all seems well, until Vera breezes into town to tell Colin that the wedding invite was a joke, meant to spur him into popping the question, and she wants him back.

The Little Polar Bear (U). Voices of: Wesley Singerman, Mike McConohie, Brianne Siddall

DUBBED into English from its native German tongue for the UK release, The Little Polar Bear is a sweet animated film aimed at very young viewers, ages 3-5. Inquisitive baby polar bear Lars (voiced by Singerman) shocks his father Mika (McConohie) and the local bear community by striking up a tender friendship with a young seal named Robby (Siddall).

The pair become bosom buddies, getting into all sorts of scrapes together, such as rescuing the local wildlife from a monstrous ship which literally swallows the fish. When Lars disappears one morning, Robby and fellow polar bear Greta fear the worst and launch a daring rescue mission.

Published: 30/10/2003