Dear Wendy
Starring: Jamie Bell, Bill Pullman, Mark Webber, Alison Pill
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
The film: You can rely on Lars von Trier to tear apart the respectable veneer of small-town America. Those who found his recent output extreme - such as Manderlay, in which black protagonists reject emancipation - can breathe easier with Dear Wendy. Scripted by von Trier, the film is witty and measured, partly because the directorial reins were handed to Thomas Vinterberg, von Triers' former Dogme comrade and the brains behind the astonishingly droll family drama Festen.
The subject of Dear Wendy - America's obsession with guns - has been touched on many times in recent years, particularly after the shootings at Columbine High School. But Dear Wendy is much wittier and more satirical than, say, Gus Van Sant's Elephant.
Again, the gun-wielders are the much-bullied misfits in the community, in this case meek youngsters in a redneck, coal-belt town facing a career down the mines.