London,

DVDs of the week

Wedding: Tabu stars as Ashima and Ashoke, played by Irfan Khan in The Namesake

Distant Voices: Features a superb performance from Pete Postlethwaite

Stomp The Yard: The dialogue is as bland as the expressions on the actors' faces

Catch & Release: Precious few laughs in this comedy

The Fallen: A gritty, witty World War II drama

Look here too

• DVD reviews

The tale of an Indian family's move to America in The Namesake, dancing in Stomp The Yard and war drama The Fallen are among the top DVDs.

DVD OF THE WEEK
The Namesake
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
12, £19.99
***
Jhumpa Lahiri's short stories bagged her a Pulitzer Prize; her debut novel, The Namesake, was arguably even better. The story of two generations of an Indian family who move to the US, it's a charming and sensitive examination of what it takes to adapt to another world and of the things that, ultimately, remain untranslatable. Yet though Mira (Monsoon Wedding) Nair is an obvious choice to direct the screen version, the result is disappointingly bland.

A train crash impels a Bengali, Ashoke (Irfan Khan), to emigrate to New York. He and his bride, Ashima (the wonderful Tabu, pictured with Khan), attempt to adjust - but not enough to accept their children's Americanisation with equanimity. The bewilderment of their son Gogol (Kal Penn) at being named after a 19th-century Russian writer, and his unpeeling of the mystery behind his odd name, forms the heart of the book - but that part of the story falls flat in a film that simply cannot cope with such sophisticated literary concerns. It's gently entertaining but probably more for fans of the book rather than newbies.

Extras: Director's commentary, featurettes. Nina Caplan

Distant Voices, Still Lives
BFI Home Video, 15, £19.99
*****
'Roll out the barrel,' quavers a grimy young girl as she stands in her father's arms but nobody here is having a barrel of fun. Nazi bombs are raining down on Liverpool and the father holding Maisie is generally more likely to whack her than hug her - in fact, that is what he has just done, before instructing her to sing. Terence Davies's startling first feature consists of a series of discrete scenes loosely looped around major family events - weddings, funerals and baptisms - and based on his own family's recollections of growing up in mid-century Liverpool with a brutalising tornado of a patriarch (a creepily superb performance from Pete Postlethwaite). The wife and three children cower and cry, yet they derive strength from each other, from their community - and from the entirely secular songs that ring out like hymns, counterpointing the sadness. A really extraordinary film.

Extras: Director's commentary and interview, introduction by art director. NC

Stomp The Yard
Sony Pictures, 12, £15.99
**
DJ is a hip street dancer whose brother dies during a violent brawl. Grieving and lonely, he's sent to live with his uncle and aunt and attend the local college. Guess what the college really needs? A hip street dancer with some new moves to liven up their stomping scene. Stomping, for the uninitiated, is a kind of rhythmic, tribal dancing that involves stamping your feet and clapping your hands in a complicated routine in unison with the rest of a team. And there's some spectacular stomping going on here: they've recruited some of the best, buffest stompers out there. But that's the only good part. The rest is box-ticking sports movie-style drivel: a forbidden romance with a rival's girlfriend, lots of lessons learned about team playing, etc. The dialogue is as bland as the expressions on the actors' faces. But if you want to see some nicely shot street dancing to an aggressive, energetic soundtrack, this is the movie for you. And by watching it on DVD, you can dance along without anyone seeing you looking like an idiot.

Extras: Commentary, deleted scenes, blooper reel. Anna Smith

Catch & Release
Sony Pictures, 12, £19.99
**
This is billed as a 'bittersweet romantic comedy' but there are precious few laughs as Gray (Jennifer Garner) reels from the death of her fiance in the opening scenes. Moving in with his male friends, as you do, she uncovers a shocking secret about the man she loved and grows closer to the womanising Fritz (Timothy Olyphant). Olyphant oozes sex appeal but has little chemistry with Garner, who pouts throughout, garnering little sympathy. She's not helped by the script: the dialogue is bland and rarely revelatory when it comes to the characters and their motivations. It's refreshing to see a romantic comedy in which the female lead hangs out with the guys and the support cast is interesting, too, with Juliette Lewis raising some laughs as a trashy, deluded New Age chick. But the gags are few and far between and the film's conflicted tone and undercooked characters make it less than compelling.

Extras: Audition footage, deleted scenes, director and writer's commentary, From Concept To Completion featurette. AS

The Fallen
Scanbox Entertainment, 15, £12.99
***
Some movies go straight to DVD for a good reason but this 2004 film is one of the exceptions.

A gritty, witty World War II drama, it sees German, Italian and American soldiers banter and battle towards the end of the war in Northern Italy. Focusing on the details of each group's daily lives, this elicits sympathy for all, while never shying away from exposing the characters' flaws. The Americans' encounters with local Italians are particularly enjoyable: they approach each other with caution and curiosity before joining forces through loneliness, desperation and - in some cases - simple randiness. Humour gives way to horror as the film wears on: it's inevitably grisly in parts but mostly eschews graphic violence in favour of character development. There's a danger of character overload - there's no identifiable hero to emotionally engage with - but it's well worth a watch despite the lack of big names.

Extras: Behind-the-scenes featurette. AS

Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.

What's on today   What's on tomorrow