I cannot bear to see great comedians like Walter Matthau in comic vehicles that are beneath their class.
Dennis the Menace (Pearl, 9.30pm), the film of the cartoon strip, is one such movie.
Dull and indulgent, John Hughes fails to inject any of the charm, hammy though it may have been, on display in Home Alone. Matthau plays Mr Wilson, the grumpy neighbour towards whom Dennis (Mason Gamble) directs most of his menace.
In recent years, bloodhound Matthau has been cast consistently in roles that rely too heavily on the naturally melancholic contours of his face (Grumpy Old Men). And it does him no justice when the lines are without substance.
What would the late, great Laurence Olivier have made of his widow, Joan Plowright, playing Wilson's wife, Martha? This woman is a serious actress. Is she hard up? And the youngster Gamble, rather than the mischievous menace, is simply irritating.
Au contraire the star of the film Cross My Heart (World, 11.50pm) is a rare comic delight. Sylvain Copans plays 12-year-old Martin, whose housemaid mother dies suddenly.