While I do not think this is a brilliant film, there is definitely something about it that holds your attention and does move you. The stuff that is just spot on:
The acting. Wonderful performances by all the cast, but in particular Robert Carlyle (the character of Charlie); Arron Fuller (his son, Jamie) and Karl Johnson (uncle Ernie).
The sense of being put 'off kilter' is the one major feeling that I got as soon as it began. I kept saying 'What's going on?' and while this is usually an insult from me, in this case it most certainly isn't. Watch it and see what I mean.
A film that does not feel the need to SPELL EVERYTHING OUT about how and why these characters are here, doing the things they are doing. If you want to see this film as a film through the eyes of the child Jamie (and I do), then this 'moment' in life is so much more accurate in how lives are lived. We do not in general go around talking about the lead up to 'this moment' - for example: Jamie's mother is absent and we never discover what happened to her.
At last a film that is set in 1988 that does not feel the desperate need to go all Retro on us.
The unsaid moments: Watch out for the wonderful Uncle Ernie (Karl Johnson) and his expressions as he looks at Charlie. Heart breaking at times. The silences here often reveal so much.
Similarly, the overwhelming sense that something is not quite right here never leaves you. Again, I felt we are positioned to 'feel' the way the young boy is very likely feeling himself.
A film that knows when to stop. Unlike so many films I have watched recently, this is sharply edited, so it doesn't just go on and on.
As a complete film I don't want to kid you into thinking it is first class, HOWEVER: some of it is. If you haven't watched it, please give it a go. I am already planning to watch it again.
Moving and thought provoking.
The acting. Wonderful performances by all the cast, but in particular Robert Carlyle (the character of Charlie); Arron Fuller (his son, Jamie) and Karl Johnson (uncle Ernie).
The sense of being put 'off kilter' is the one major feeling that I got as soon as it began. I kept saying 'What's going on?' and while this is usually an insult from me, in this case it most certainly isn't. Watch it and see what I mean.
A film that does not feel the need to SPELL EVERYTHING OUT about how and why these characters are here, doing the things they are doing. If you want to see this film as a film through the eyes of the child Jamie (and I do), then this 'moment' in life is so much more accurate in how lives are lived. We do not in general go around talking about the lead up to 'this moment' - for example: Jamie's mother is absent and we never discover what happened to her.
At last a film that is set in 1988 that does not feel the desperate need to go all Retro on us.
The unsaid moments: Watch out for the wonderful Uncle Ernie (Karl Johnson) and his expressions as he looks at Charlie. Heart breaking at times. The silences here often reveal so much.
Similarly, the overwhelming sense that something is not quite right here never leaves you. Again, I felt we are positioned to 'feel' the way the young boy is very likely feeling himself.
A film that knows when to stop. Unlike so many films I have watched recently, this is sharply edited, so it doesn't just go on and on.
As a complete film I don't want to kid you into thinking it is first class, HOWEVER: some of it is. If you haven't watched it, please give it a go. I am already planning to watch it again.
Moving and thought provoking.