Still blazing after all these years: Mel Brooks at 100

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The director of The Producers hits his century as a uniquely beloved entertainer who embodies his conviction that ‘comedy is the opposite of death’ Mel Brooks’ story is that of the US and Jews and American Jewish comedy. He was born on the kitchen table of a tenement in Brooklyn a century ago in the same month Marilyn Monroe made her own entrance on the opposite coast. The son of European immigrants, Brooks was brought up by his mother after his father died when Melvin was just two years old. He was a small, sickly child and the youngest of four brothers, perhaps an explanation for an almost pathological desire for attention. In the words of his colleague Larry Gelbart : “Mel thought when he got slapped in the ass by the doctor who delivered him that was applause, and he has not stopped performing since.” In his youth, Brooks’ preferred method of making a noise was playing the drums and he was actually taught the instrument by Buddy Rich. Neither could possibly have known at the time t...
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The Family Plan review – Mark Wahlberg and his abs forced to revive special forces past

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Weirdly forgettable action caper sees the star’s glossy American family dream interrupted by his glossy former life in covert ops

Once again demonstrating his stolid competence in playing both straight action or comedy, Mark Wahlberg is the action-comedy lead with amazing abs in this glossy but weirdly forgettable tranche of content; it is directed by the estimable Simon Cellan Jones, known for more heartfelt work including BBC TV’s Our Friends in the North.

Used car salesman Dan (Wahlberg) is living the American dream as a family man in the ’burbs with wonderful wife Jessica (played by the excellent but somehow underused Michelle Monaghan) and three kids: two teens and a late-blessing baby, whose existence testifies to Dan and Jessica’s continuing loved-up bliss. But Dan has a secret: he is of course a former special forces warrior in a mercenary crew covertly used by the US government for deniable operations.

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