Mortdecai (David Koepp, 2015)

Journeyman scriptwriter Koepp ventures directing someone else's screenplay for the first time and, while the ones he has penned over the years have been of variable quality, this is most definitely not a good move. It's basically an opportunity for Johnny Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow to try to outdo the ridiculousness of each other's upper-class English accents while some sort of sub-Austin Powers action comedy takes place around them involving the recovery of a stolen painting. Depp does make a good posh twit a la Paul Whitehouse (who also cameos) as the titular cad, but without a plot of any consequence and saddled with running jokes that are tedious even on their second airing, it's really a test of the audience's indulgence.

3/10