Even if historical fact has been modified in the cause of dramatic licence, Neil Jordan's biopic of the much misunderstood IRA officer Michael Collins remains a fine film, superbly shot by Oscar-nominated Chris Menges.

The scenes of the November 21 1920 assassination of 12 British military officers and the reprisals by the British in Croke Park football stadium are powerful cinema, even if the latter is a serious exaggeration of what actually took place.

But the core of the film is the relationship between Collins, superbly portrayed by Liam Neeson, richly deserving his Evening Standard Best Actor award, and the nationalist leader Eamon De Valera, ripely rendered by Alan Rickman.

As Kitty Kiernan, the woman with whom Collins becomes involved, Julia Roberts is miscast: her 'starry quality' disturbs the atmosphere of a film whose intention is entirely serious and of which Jordan (who won the Venice Golden Lion) should be justly proud.