I will admit, that while I was watching this film, I was painting, so I didn't pick all of it up. But at the beginning he was playing hockey, and there were guys dressed like jocks. Was he in America during his first life? And it's strange to see guys dressed like Jocks in London. Were they trying to make this film feel American? Even the accents were often lacking.
I was also confused a bit about that. Maybe this European film was made to look "american" so it could be be easier to sell, but I noticed the jeep he drove after the hockeytraining had the drivers seat to the right.
The hockey scene seemed very English to me. They were playing in South London at at Streatham (and doing a great job of disguising how run down it is!) and the opponents were wearing old Slough Jets jerseys. Then again I have been following the sport over here for 10+ years. It may not have a big following, but what there is tends to be pretty dedicated.
Anyway, it tends to be the canucks who are big into their hockey, the yanks tend to be less bothered about it.
I didn't like how they Americanized some of the details. One of the two jocks that got off the bus during Ian's office life gave him the middle finger (a more common American rude gesture) as opposed to the two-fingered salute (a more common British rude gesture). And we're supposed to believe that Ian's been in England since at least Uni (at least in this life), and he still calls it an "elevator" instead of a "lift"? I mean, that's possible, but it would make a bit more sense if he started picking up some of the local colloquialisms during his years spent there. I dated someone British for a good while some years back, and I still use British colloquialisms on occasion (such as saying "bin" instead of "trash").
The middle finger (a rude gesture that dates back to at least the Roman Empire) shown by the jocks was a reference to the Harvester claw/spike. It was also a taunt, because Ian couldn't remember what it meant.
lol..first impression I got was Canadian with the hockey and all till I spotted the euro license plates. But Englishmen play hockey, too?? that's new to me. Maybe it just all takes place in the 'little Canada' section of London.
It obviously was filmed in London. They were on the Underground and got off at Charing Cross at one point.
Someone didn't understand why the two ice hockey players were in Cougars jackets - they were "harvesters" and also had just come from the game at the beginning. The one-fingered gesture is getting common here. And, yes, ice hockey is played here.
I thought Mike Vogel was brilliant in this. Pity we don't see more of him.
I can see the argument of "it didn't feel British," but that's not really... a point? I mean, yes, it takes place in London, and maybe doesn't beat you over the head with it, but that doesn't make it feel American to me.