I Know What I'm Doing

A potentially good storyline absolutely devastated by wooden, amature actors and I would hazard a guess poor direction.

It would have been better to set it as a wacky comedy, but its not that either. The only reason I sat through it was in hope it would improve, sadly it did not.

Robbie Moffat's masterpiece I Know What I'm Doing, creates a strong dynamic between the characters. Astonishing with the cinematography as well. Great poster (great stuff Claire!)

I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING is a light, character-based comedy/drama/romance from Scottish director Robbie Moffat. It's set in Yorkshire and stars as the main cast member Emily Bergl, who you may or may not remember playing the lead role in the highly disappointing THE RAGE: CARRIE 2 back in the day. The good news is that she's improved a lot since those days, delivering a warm and mature performance.

The real surprise here is that the film is much better than expected given Moffat's track record. He made some really poor, no budget movies at the outset of his career, but I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING is a professional-looking and well edited film. I still didn't enjoy it, but that's more because I'm no real fan of the comic romance genre, and I found it all a bit light and lacking. There's no denying that a good range of locations have been chosen in which to set the action and that it's a massive step up from the likes of THE WINTER WARRIOR.

Emily Bergl has come a long way from Carrie 2. In I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING she still has her mischievous smile but she's now a grander lady, with grand notions of what she wants. She turns in a superb performance as June Bennett, the prissy American marrying a man twice her age in exchange for a life of convenience and comfort. However, she doesn't want a meal- ticket, she is still capable of doing a hard day's work, and she is no push over. To the English she is bossy and difficult, but in contrast, she manages to make the English appear stuffy and rigid. It is a good conflict that propels the movie along its quaint path. The support cast are all lovable, but it is Miss Bergl who steals the show with her splendid detachment that outdoes the English in arrogance. Very entertaining.

Look, I know that filmmakers routinely remake classics for the modern idiom, but usually they at least credit the original makers somewhere. This amateurish production steals the story and, very nearly, the actual title of a 1945 Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger vehicle for Wendy Hiller, "I Know Where I'm Going!" without the slightest nod to those vastly superior filmmakers. That shows amazing chutzpah, but precious little else in this works inspires admiration. Such a shameless act of theft might passed unnoticed (as the film itself deservedly did), but as a former student of Powell, I cannot ignore it. Do not waste your time on this pale, wan shadow of a lovely movie. Donate your 90 minutes of life to Powell's delightful romance instead. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037800/