Rent Ordinary Love (2019)

Downer - Ordinary Love review by NI

Despite an excellent performance by Lesley Manville this is a depressing movie. It almost seems like an official guide to breast cancer treatment and the consequent emotional turmoil that's produced. Liam Neeson is not on top form and his accent grates. Not a film to lighten to lockdown gloom.

Heartbreaking but Wonderful Film - Ordinary Love review by GI

This is a weepie, a heartbreaker that is deeply moving, frequently funny and very insightful that charts the story of a middle aged couple who have to deal with the shock of a cancer diagnosis. Lesley Manville and Liam Neeson are note perfect as Joan and Tom, a couple who have been married for many years, share the grief of a lost child, and now live quiet, loving and contented lives. Then Joan discovers a lump in her breast and the film follows their struggles in coping with this and the medical interventions that follow. This is a film of wit and subtlety and highlights the trauma, stress and worry that has to be dealt with by both the person with the illness and their partner, both of whom suddenly have to accept an unknown future. I won't reveal the arc of the story suffice to say it isn't predictable so assuming how it plays out won't work. The performances are flawless and particular credit has to go to Lesley Manville who captures in the smallest of expressions her fears, sadness and her love. Surely she deserves recognition for the wonderful actor she so clearly is. Neeson too excels here and puts aside his action hero persona to really nail the loving husband whose emotions are exposed in ways he finds difficult to share. This is a film that also has a joy so it's well worth checking out. Recommended.

The truth - Ordinary Love review by CW

Beautifully done. Real depiction of someone going through chemo and someone taking care of her. The suffering. The mood swings and physical changes.  Never giving up on love and life. Kindness. Empathy. Integrity. Plus Liam Neeson being drop dead gorgeous didn’t hurt...

Lesley Manville gives a powerful & tender portrait of love, grief and pain in a beautiful film - Ordinary Love review by TB

This is a stunning film, made on a tiny budget, with not an ounce of excess/uneeded exposition or bloat.

Lesley Manville is perfect in the role and Liam Neeson, who is known for his leading man status and powerful prescence, eschews all of this to become in many ways the lost and worried husband, powerless to stop the pain and upset his wife is going through.

There are many tender moments, but the two that really stick in my mind is the meeting of an old school teacher in hospital and reminising about the daughter that has passed (no reason is given as to why, which to me is a very good thing, as there is already so much going on within the narrative;) and a beautifully shot, unbelievably tender love scene where, before she starts the treatment for cancer, the couple "say goodbye" to the body that she has before it changes forever.

I have not had experience of the trauma that is shown in the film, but one thing which did also resonate with me was that there is in these situations, no perfect answer. One scene where everything becomes too much and the characters are having their own seperate breakdowns in different rooms only highlights that whilst they may feel so far from each other, they also are so close.

Thoroughly recommended and wonderfully performed