Film Reviews by MA

This is a rather odd film.  The theme is good but the scenes switch very quickly with little explanation.  It ‘tells’ rather than ‘shows’.  It’s as if about 30 minutes had been cut from all over the film. David Warner is good though. In the copy I had the sound quality was not great  and the dialogue was unclear. Also there was no option for subtitles

So much about this film is wrong. It starts out as a true to life story about a long-married couple but it can't decide if it wants to be a comedy, a farce, and tragedy , a bit of social commentary or what.  It ends being  a mixture  but mostly a barely watchable and superficial   tragedy. The script doesn't seem to know anything about  the life of a couple  like that.  Familiarity and complacency can often lead to a mixture of acceptance and irritation, of both self and other. But is this case it has led to despair, self-loathing and contempt. The Lindsey Duncan character  is a good example of borderline personality disorder and its hard to imagine her ever having been any different. The acting, or should I say overacting, is good of course and the Jeff Goldblum character offers an unlikely post twist.  The ending, and this is save you watching the film, has the couple more imprisoned by delusion than they ever were. This is not what  life after 60 is.  Don't bother.

Ditto about the lack of subtitles, especially as the accents were so authentic and sometimes hard to hear.  Couldn’t help thinking Ray Winston was miscast because he was supposed to be  a generation younger than the rest but looked the same sort of age.  At the same time he was probably  more accurately cast and a product of the place. 

This is an odd film. It has no obvious plot and no commentary. There are no explanations of who the people are, what they are doing, or why they are doing it, or why the excerpt has been included. Each scene is quite short and appears not to be connected to the one before or after.

Because of all this I persevered for about 30 minutes because I know the museum but then gave up.

Shame

If you expect a film to have car crashes, murder, deceit etc etc in order for something to 'happen' you will be disappointed by this film. It is about something much more special and everyday - falling in love....and what to do about it. As such it will ring a bell for anyone who has ever taken part in and produced this sort of magic. It is difficult to portray this on film without trivialising it, but Richard Linklater manages it.