Hacks

If you have followed the phone-hacking saga and the demise of NOTW then you will be familiar with the territory of this film. Now satire is not a genre that always results in belly-laughs, but this was a touch disappointing as humour and the satire lacked the incisiveness of real exponents of the genre; it tended to follow predictable story-lines and the acting lacked the 'edge' of a series like 'The Thick of It'. Michael Kitchen plays his relatively small part well and what a contrast from his role as Inspector Foyle - it demonstrates the skill of the actor and must have been fun for him as a role. But fans of Kitchen's Foyle will probably be disappointed; they should not expect this to be a reprise of his mastery of that wise, self-controlled and precisely nuanced character.