First he was the “hunky” gardener from hit TV show Desperate Housewives and more recently he has become famous for being the boyfriend of Girls Aloud performer Nadine Coyle, writes Stuart Johnstone.

Now he is aiming for big screen stardom, with the titular role in John Tucker Must Die (seen at Odeon Douglasfield, 12A).

John Tucker is the most popular student in high school. So popular that he has no problem finding girlfriends.

In fact they throw themselves at him with alarming regularity.

So what’s a guy to do? John decides that one girlfriend is not enough and has three instead, which involves an intricate juggling act to keep the three unaware of each other’s existence.

Of course, he is unable to keep the veil of secrecy intact for long and soon cheerleader Heather (Ashanti), liberal-leaning Beth (Sophia Bush) and brainy Carrie (Arielle Kebbel) finally catch on to their other half’s mischief and team up to teach him a lesson.

They are joined in the task by Kate Spencer (Brittany Snow). She and her mother Lori (Jenny McCarthy) have travelled from place to place looking for some stability once and for all. Kate is pretty but has trouble creating friendships and getting close to people.

She is soon roped into the trio’s plan by being made the bait to lure Tucker into a trap, with the plan being to make him fall for her then dump him to make sure he feels the same pain the girls have been suffering.

Of course, she soon finds herself falling for the leading man and she is left with a dilemma: does she continue with the revenge plot, or does she take her chance with the heartbreaker?

John Tucker Must Die contains all the staples of the teen comedy. Romance, scatological humour and plenty of awkward situations fill a narrative that never tries to be too clever or deep. On the one hand John Tucker Must Die could be described as a comment on the back-stabbing, cruel nature of the school environment, but in reality, it belongs firmly in the category of the American Pies and Road Trips of this world.

As for Metcalfe, the role of John Tucker is not much of a stretch, but he carries it off with relative ease.

Whether or not he has what it takes to be a big box-office draw remains to be seen, but John Tucker Must Die, will do his career no harm at all.

Verdict: High school high jinx.

PG, Network DVD, £14.99

Director Carol Reed’s Odd Man Out is 60 years old and is the closing film at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival.

It is quite rightly regarded as one of the finest ever British films. It’s certainly among the most tragic.

A very young James Mason stars as Johnny McQueen, an idealistic leader of the IRA. He plans an armed raid to financially support his plans — but it goes wrong, and he is shot, badly wounded and left for dead by his gang. The film shows McQueen’s demise as he stumbles around the back-alleys of Belfast trying to evade capture from the police.

The black and white cinematography is striking in this buffed up print of this downbeat and gritty film from the director of The Third Man, with a captivating performance from Mason, who has only a handful of lines for most of the film.

EXTRAS: 1972 interview with James Mason

VERDICT: A highlight of British cinema.