Glassland

"Power 4 Life" is the mantra at proprietor Guy Pearce's Texas gym, but trainer Cobie Smulders has a job getting wealthy slob Kevin Corrigan into shape in this serio-comic offering from US indie mainstay Andrew Bujalski (Mutual Appreciation, Computer Chess). Lonely and positively befuddled by his own spending power, Corrigan soon falls for his new instructor, but notwithstanding her message of self-improvement, the brittle Smulders - like the uptight Pearce - is no paragon of contentment. Mischievously puncturing the myth that physical fitness brings happiness, the film at times meanders because it refuses to fall back on romcom formulae. Instead, its charm is a matter of getting to know and understand the marvellous key cast, Corrigan's self-styled "podgy and mellow" vibe playing adeptly against the hints of vulnerability displayed by the buffed-up Pearce and Smulders. Keep your seats, too, for a wonderfully warm end credits sequence that only confirms how much we've come to care for this shambling trio.