Parkland, on the other hand, is a story ripped straight from the history books, and not for the first time. It is a straightforward account of the events surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy, from the perspective of the ordinary people in Dallas who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances: the nurses and doctors at Parkland Hospital, where the dying Kennedy was brought, to be followed later by the mortally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald; the onlooker who took the most famous — and vital — footage of the shooting; the head of security; and Oswald's brother. 

The whole thing is sunk, however, not just by over-familiarity (it has presumably been released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the assassination), but by lack of dramatic focus. There might really have been something here if the makers had concentrated on the hospital staff and made it into a sort of deluxe, one-off episode of ER. As it stands, it feels like a whole series of sub-plots in search of a story — and one to which we know the ending.

It is still possible at the cinema to get away from real events, and for those who want the guarantee of good familiar material there's the newest version of Romeo and Juliet, adapted this time by Downton man-of-the-moment Julian Fellowes and directed by one Carlo Carlei. But beware: you might think it would be hard to mess this story up, but somehow they've managed it more successfully than if they'd gone the whole hog and cast Benedict Cumberbatch as one half of the star-crossed couple.

The settings are lovely, if somewhat underpopulated, and there's no gimmickry. Romeo is played by the supernaturally good-looking Douglas Booth, of TV's Great Expectations, but unfortunately poor Juliet, Hailee Steinfeld, is simply no match for him. This actress really impressed with her performance in the remake of True Grit, but here she speaks her lines as if by rote. More importantly, it is simply impossible to believe that Romeo would be struck down by lust or love for this dumpy little creature, who occasionally brings to mind Shrek's bride. Both players have to have an ethereal quality about them — has any one of us forgotten the gorgeous Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting in the 1968 Zeffirelli version, the one which launched a thousand A-level English courses? In certain circumstances, beauty really does need to be on the outside.