I thought that the two of them not getting to approach each other in the room with the tv-crew was kind of an anticlimax. From there the film lost most of it's tension. The final scene where they finally met felt more like a bar-fight to me.
Anyone else?
I think had they met with the TV crew, it would have been an anti-climax. I thought the exploration of the repressed grief, guilt and anger that developed because they didn't meet was more interesting. I agree that the scene where they met did seem like a bar fight, and that was where the film lost it's power for me. It turned into a sort of violent revenge thriller and it felt out of step with the rest of the film which had been intelligent, realistic and touching.
shareI think had they met with the TV crew, it would have been an anti-climax.
I agree that the scene where they met did seem like a bar fight, and that was where the film lost it's power for me. It turned into a sort of violent revenge thriller
I agree there had to be a physical confrontation, however I was hoping for more dialogue between them after the fight. When Joe is pressing the assistant who met Alistair for more information, finding out Alistair didn't have the carefree life he thought he did, I thought it was leading in that direction where maybe he could find some peace by hearing him out. I felt like the film was fairly powerful up until the ending; but just left me wanting for more somehow.
shareI found it brilliant. I really enjoy it when films restrain themselves instead of succumbing to premature confrontation. I absolutely loved how slow this film was.
shareIt was definitely frustrating, but to me that was the point. The whole film crew deserved to be frustrated and ultimately not get their show done. And Alistair, who has clearly become so comfortable with the whole media game, and appeared so smooth and well-spoken, was denied his face-to-face with Joe. It was also more believable for Joe to leave, once the seed had been planted in his mind that Alistair was not living the kind of charmed life he had imagined, and he couldn't bring himself to kill him as planned. That had been his only motivation to agree to the whole circus, he really had no desire to just talk, or offer redemption at that point. So his leaving upped the ante for Alistair, and added tension until the later confrontation and ultimately, Joe's final words to Alistair.
SPOILERS ....... SPOILERS ....... SPOILERS ......... SPOILERS ......
Yeah... I thought the same thing. Once Joe walked out of the media event, that was pretty much the end of the movie for me.
I know the idea of the directors was to show the emotion's of the two characters as they went on with their lives, or tried too. Like the moving scene of Liam/Allstair lying down on a single bed in his spare apartment as the shell of a shattered man with nothing but regrets.
However, at the end of the film all I could think was..... "I guess you had to be there".
I know that sounds apathetic and a little cruel. The movie did move me and invoke some real emotion, but not as much as if I would have had to live through "The Troubles" during the era, as the inhabitant's of Northern Ireland had too.
There was great acting and a short plot that relied solely on invoking emotion's of the viewer, that IMO sold the movie short.
A couple flashbacks showing how the young Allstair was caught, what became of his comrades, and a few prison scenes of him gaining insight and humility over the 12 years he served due to his horrendous crime, would have greatly helped this film.
~~ 5/10 ~~
My God !! It's full of stars ......
Of course they fought....Joe left his home in a rage, threw his wife to the floor... his every intention was to kill Alistair.
There were other possibilities.... Joe could've succeeded in stabbing Alistair from behind, Alistair could've let himself be killed.... or he could have tried to save himself, which is what happened.
Makes perfect sense.
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Be there or be.... not there.