"I wouldn't say that that accurately describes my feelings," she replies. "I would jump at the chance of a really interesting project."Based in west London, McGovern, her husband, the producer Simon Curtis, and their two daughters divide their time between Britain and Hollywood. She can chose her roles - there's no steely pursuit of stardom, only the desire to work in the company of artists she respects.McGovern's latest film is The Truth, a low-budget, independent film directed by George Milton from a script he co-wrote with Mark Tilton. "They borrowed money from friends to make this film," McGovern says, admiringly.For The Truth, shot in the Cairngorms, McGovern is cast as a Californian therapist, the cold, manipulative Donna Shuck. "Having grown up in Hollywood and being in show business all my adult life, I've seen how these pseudo-psychoanalytic gurus make decisions that affect hundreds of people.

I guess Donna is an amalgam of a number of such people I have come across."And as long as her clients' neuroses are concocted, Donna has the language to guide them to a potentially happier place. "It's a parable for how the world works, the fact the West, with all its neuroses, is victimising the Third World and never taking responsibility The film works at that level."'The Truth' is out now. But when the problems are real, as with the character who's witnessed the brutal murder of their relatives in a war zone, Donna's guidance is less sure, her actions motivated by the will to control, notcure.McGovern is fascinated by the film's underlying metaphor. The truth, of course is subjective and in the film, it becomes a plaything, the focus of a bizarre and increasingly sinister game. Donna remains inscrutable and outwardly benevolent, even when a female participant admits eating the remains of a lover following a sado-masochistic ritual.When a client is found dead, Donna flirts briefly with real emotion, but quickly submerges it in a moment of sublime mumbo-jumbo: "You mustn't think this is just a murder; it's a cry for help!" The ensemble enters a menacing group psychosis, which lasts throughout the film.Her performance is masterly. A group of young men and women have come to her isolated Scottish clinic with a variety of emotional limitations that they hope to overcome with her system, "Seven Adventures in Truth".Donna's rules are simple; tell only the truth and remain loyal to the group.

Also for Robert Burton, whose Anatomy of Melancholy, with its jumble of maxims, was a major influence. C is for Clocks. For every inch forward taken by the plot, there are 15 miles of essays The book covers the years 1680-1766 B is for Babyhood. Tristram's conception, birth, christening and childhood accidents take up six of the nine volumes. The problem for Cazals was that they were happy to play to this front third of the audience but failed to engage the rest.. A is for Action Nor a word you associate with Tristram Shandy.

I had no idea there was a decent song to be unearthed here, yet not only did Cazals lay claim to it, they made it their own with a choppy bass and twitchy guitar line.The band have cultivated a young, committed fanbase, who were happy to crowd-surf (risky in a pub-sized venue) and stormed the stage at the end. Problem was, Cazals' best moments owed too much to other bands. The intro to "What Of Our Future" instantly brought to mind The Jam's "Going Underground". Other references were even closer to home; all that separated "A Big Mistake" from Maximo Park was their Mackem cadences replaced by Bush's gruff east London accent. At least the voice of the Cazals front-man sounded lived-in, but his lack of vocal variety further undermined the band's cause.Impossible to resist, though, was their take on Spandau Ballet's "To Cut a Long Story Short".

Last year was all about the spat-out lyrics of the single "Poor Little Boys", but the follow-up "Comfortable Silence" owed more to the testosterone soul of "Geno"-era Dexys.With so many spiky hooks, and a commitment to keeping numbers below three minutes, they could have been the band to keep Razorlight fans happy until their next album. His cardigan and cravat ensemble hardly helped to dispel the thought that they were little more than fashion scene hangers-on. But tight playing and the helpless smile of cherubic bassist Martin Dubka suggested that they felt at home in a seedy London venue. It has also helped that they avoided an early album-release; they had to take a sabbatical after their kit was trashed by berserk Pete Doherty fans after he failed to turn up for a gig on which the Cazals were the support.So this winter has seen a sharper Cazals, with a clear delineation between older material and more streamlined cuts. This London-based five-piece emerged with The Paddingtons and The Rakes as a sharp-dressed post-Libertines coterie. Chief dandy and singer Phil Bush wore a pencil moustache that brought to mind Midge Ure in his Ultravox prime. In an age of instant success, we should applaud a band willing to hone their craft Yet, for Cazals, hard graft was not enough.