Rent Boxing Day (2012)

Disappointing snowbound two-hander drama - very odd - Boxing Day review by PV

This film brands itself "Bernard Rose's Boxing Day". Am I supposed to know this Mr Rose? Is he famous? Never heard of him, I'm afraid.

The best thing about this movie is the trailer - which did its job because I rented the film on the strength of it. Sadly, the trailer has ALL the best lines so watching the main movie adds nothing.

A wait till the end of the credits shows that this is BFI funded by UK taxpayers' money and like many state-funded projects, it would NEVER have got by the gatekeepers in the commercial world.

It's basically a 2-hander, based on a story by Tolstoy (which means it WILL be all about social class), with a property speculator being driven around by an incompetent British chauffeur in the snowy icebound environs of Denver, Colorado looking at foreclosed properties he hopes to buy at a big discount.

A few good one liners here. And Tolstoy's long dead so not copyright issue there and no-one to pay! There is an attempt to make rounded characters with ex-wife subplots etc but that feels very tagged on.

But that's it. Probably my favourite things about this movie is the snowy and icy scenes which I could watch all day long.

The whole premise of this movie is flawed. I kept asking myself - why would a supposedly savvy property speculator allow himself to be driven around by a chauffeur so incompetent he cannot use a satnav or know which type of fuel to put in the car? Plenty of knowledgeable tax drivers in EVERY town and city in the world who are immediately available for private hire for a day or more - yet, the speculator character lets himself be driven into snowstorm by a clown.

All very silly and unsatisfying.

2 stars - and 1 of them is for the snow!!!

An absolute gem - Boxing Day review by TE

Great slow-burning ordinary life thriller. Fantastic performances by the two main characters and great little set piece scenes of out in the sticks America.

Beguiling indie - Boxing Day review by AER

This loosely adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's Master & Man takes a while to kick in. It's not until the two main characters Basil (Danny Huston) and Nick (Matthew Jacobs) meet up as a property developer (of sorts) and his chauffeur for the day. It's clear that they are each, eachother's worst nightmare. The job is to be driven around Denver, Colorado to see some houses. It's clear they wouldn't cross paths in real life and all they do is wind each other up. The former is irritated the the latter's incompetence, nosiness and slowness, the latter is irritated by the former's arrogance, sense of entitlement, impatience and rudeness. They get into trouble in the mountains when a snow storm moves in... Then things get very interesting indeed. The first 15 minutes were a waste of time, but I stuck with it and this got really good even though both of the main characters were complete a**holes... I haven't seen any of Bernard Rose's films since Mr Nice or maybe ivansxtc, and for me, I like his light touch on the tech, it really puts you in the room with the characters.

Bernard Rose was one of the first known filmmakers to embrace digital cameras and push tech at gateway level. He's like the 'indie' James Cameron in a way. This just let's the actors do their thing and its wonderfully naturalistic, almost like we're in the car with these insufferable characters. Even in it's closing moments it highlights that there will be dire consequences in store all concerned.

Short, not sweet, and NOT a Christmas movie... Excellent.