"We are gentlemen brought together by necessity!" So goes the thinking behind The Abduction Club, the name of a wily gang of penniless 18th-century chaps who attempt to cure their singledom by swiping wealthy heiresses from the comfort of their own homes. The aim? To sweet talk them into marriage by morning, securing their future in the manner to which they are accustomed with the aid of the lady's hefty dowry. Daniel Lapaine and Matthew Rhys are two loveable rogues who get more than they bargain for with the feisty Kennedy sisters (Alice Evans and Sophia Myles), who give them a run for their money. But, with their family in hot pursuit, the question is: will the girls ever relent and fall for the boys? And if so, what will their folks say? Based on true events, the whole setup of The Abduction Club is dubious, intended to be overlooked by the fact that these abductors are rather handsome, so of course the ladies don't mind being kidnapped. But to launch a moral tirade against such a frivolous film would be as ludicrous as some of the oversized wigs and corsetry on offer here. There is some dodgy acting and some even more unsteady scripting, but The Abduction Club is just a genial romp that aims to amuse, and little else. On the DVD: The Abduction Club disc is completely bereft of any additional material apart from a trailer. -Laura Bushell.

Harry S Truman had a hard row to hoe as the 33rd president of the USA, and he never enjoyed popularity while in office. Think about what occurred on Truman's watch: the bombing of Hiroshima, a nationwide railroad strike, the rise of the Southern State's Rights party, integration of the armed forces, the ascendancy of McCarthyism, the early Cold War and finally the Korean Conflict and Truman's decision to fire General MacArthur. Few American presidents have been faced with more difficult and dangerous times than Truman. It wasn't until some 50 years later that Harry Truman, a farmer from Missouri, got his due appreciation in the history books. Truman follows the man from his beginnings as an artillery officer in WWI through his connections with Missouri's Pendergast political machine, onward to Washington. The always excellent Gary Sinise is a perfect fit for the Truman character, having obviously studied the President's plainspoken Missouri twang and ramrod-straight bearing at great length. Diana Scarwid is also very good as Truman's long-suffering wife Bess; the film studies the relationship between the two in some depth, and also sheds light on the men who surrounded Truman in Washington. Truman's chief failing is that in its effort to detail 40 years of the man's life, certain historical events are given short shrift in order to fit them all in. Nonetheless, Sinise inhabits Harry Truman's character well; the scene where the President ruminates on dining alone in the White House (while Bess is back in Missouri) is a great, understated comment on the loneliness, isolation and stress of the job. -Jerry Renshaw.