Front Row - 07/01/2008

Director Sidney Lumet is best known for a string of taut cinematic thrillers from the 1970s, including Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon. His latest film, Before The Devil Knows You're Dead, is being heralded as a long-awaited return to form for the octegenarian. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke, the film tackles the moral consequences of a botched heist. Film critic Adrian Wootton joins Mark Lawson to give the Front Row verdict. With the new year come two new dramas from ITV - both dealing with families going through big changes. The Palace is about the sudden accession of a young, irresponsible, boozy prince to the British throne, whilst Honest is the tale of a crooked family going straight after the head of the household is sent to jail. Joining Mark Lawson to discuss the programmes are comedian Natalie Haynes and TV critic Chris Dunkley. Richard T Kelly’s debut novel Crusaders explores religion, politics and crime in Newcastle and the North East of England in the late 1990s. Previously the author of a book about the filmmaking movement Dogme 95 and a biography of Sean Penn, Richard Kelly talks to Mark Lawson about why he chose to venture into the world of fiction writing. Mark Lawson finds out about the Army's new Potential Officer's Development Course which involves a cultural training programme for soldiers. Mark discusses the course with Major Miles Hayman, Commanding Officer at the Army School of Education, and with BBC correspondent Mark Urban, and finds out what Spamalot and Madam Butterfly have in common as far as the Army is concerned.