It was a delight to see Brosnan and Hayek together again ten years on from "After the Sunset" (2004) and their chemistry remains intact.
The cinematography is excellent, with picture-postcard imagery of both London and LA, yet there is no saccharine to be found anywhere in the screenplay, which makes for an eye-candy feast that nourishes rather than nauseates.
Essentially a very well-written, grown-up, romantic film with beautiful scenery, attractive actors, solid dialogue, and a feel-good ending that is only a teeny bit contrived, but not enough to annoy.
This would have scored higher with me if not for the unfortunate casting of Malcolm McDowell, who I personally dislike intensely. His overacting and unsubtle characterisation was, as usual for him, only skin deep, and strained my suspension of disbelief to the point of discomfort.
I never get a sense from McDowell that he ever takes his characters any deeper than a two-dimensional caricature, which is what Brosnan was doing in the early days of his career. But unlike the older veteran, Brosnan has noticeably evolved and developed in his craft, and as he gets older and more grizzled, he taps ever more interesting depths.
Overall, though, this was a fab movie, and one that I'd happily watch again.
The cinematography is excellent, with picture-postcard imagery of both London and LA, yet there is no saccharine to be found anywhere in the screenplay, which makes for an eye-candy feast that nourishes rather than nauseates.
Essentially a very well-written, grown-up, romantic film with beautiful scenery, attractive actors, solid dialogue, and a feel-good ending that is only a teeny bit contrived, but not enough to annoy.
This would have scored higher with me if not for the unfortunate casting of Malcolm McDowell, who I personally dislike intensely. His overacting and unsubtle characterisation was, as usual for him, only skin deep, and strained my suspension of disbelief to the point of discomfort.
I never get a sense from McDowell that he ever takes his characters any deeper than a two-dimensional caricature, which is what Brosnan was doing in the early days of his career. But unlike the older veteran, Brosnan has noticeably evolved and developed in his craft, and as he gets older and more grizzled, he taps ever more interesting depths.
Overall, though, this was a fab movie, and one that I'd happily watch again.