THE LAST DUEL

 It's a brave man who will tell his tale in the manner of "Rashomon", particularly when he's as reliant on CGI as Ridley Scott is here but then Scott, now 84, has never been one to shy away from a challenge. Even without its 'Rashomon'-style telling, (different versions of the same events), setting your dark epic at the end of the Dark Ages, risks alienating your audience. "The Last Duel" is said to be based on true events but whose truth? In the end that hardly matters. Messing with the narrative is a good deal of the fun and Scott certainly gives us a big, bloody and savage movie. Indeed of all his films this could be the one most likely to appeal to fans of "Gladiator".

It's a fantastic looking film, stunningly shot by the great Dariusz Wolski and superbly designed but fidelity to the period doesn't really extend to the screenplay, co-written by co-stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck together with Nicole Holofcener from Eric Jager's book, and it's all the better for it. The 21st century colloquialisms give the movie an accessibility it might otherwise have lacked. Unfortunately neither Damon nor Adam Driver add much depth to their characters though an almost unrecognisable Ben Affleck seems to be enjoying himself and a post-Killing Eve Jodie Comer has no problem walking off with the movie as the wife who may or may not have been raped.

Indeed, there is so much about "The Last Duel" that is smart, funny and totally unexpected that if just might turn out to be the most unlikely multiplex movie of the year but whether audiences respond to a movie largely devoid of action until the final duel is a different matter. This isn't Marvel territory but a movie for grown-ups that deserves a grown-up audience. Let's hope it gets the recognition it deserves.