CASSANDRA’S DREAM with Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell, Sally Hawkins, Ashley Madekwe and Tom Wilkinson. Written and directed by Woody Allen.

OVER the years we’ve seen some unusual choices for pairs of brothers – think of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito in Twins for example. But the combination of Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell seems absolutely perfect, with it easy to believe that they are related.

They play Irish brothers Ian (McGregor) and Terry (Farrell) who now live in London.

Ian is stuck working at his father’s (John Benfield) restaurant, while dreaming of investing in American hotels.

Terry works as an assistant motor mechanic, but gets himself into trouble with his gambling problem and by lending the antique cars he’s working on to his friends for joy rides.

The title of the film comes from the name of the boat the brothers buy together after Terry picks two winners in one day at the dog racing track.

But their good fortune soon comes to an end.

Terry loses £90000 on a card game, and Ian finds himself desperate to close a hotel deal to impress his high-maintenance girlfriend Kate (Sally Hawkins). Help comes from their rich businessman uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson), who has always looked out for his working class family.

But this time the bailout comes with a shocking condition – Ian and Terry have to murder a former associate of Howard’s who is looking to blow the whistle on some dodgy business dealings.

The two are initially horrified at the thought of doing this job, but desperate times make men do desperate things, and the brothers end up planning to carry out the job.

I won’t give away what happens from this point, but will say that after quite a slow start the film really gathers momentum towards the end and is worth sitting through even if you feel bored initially.

McGregor is excellent as the more confident brother, while Farrell pulls off the paranoia and depression of his character equally well. Woody Allen has had as much success with his acting as his writing and directing, but in this case it’s a good thing he stays behind the camera for once, as the film works very well with an all British cast. Leon Muston