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Saw this today at the London film festival - a review

posted 12 years ago by PoppyTransfusion
13 replies | jump to latest

Had a (small) red carpet premiere at LIFF and this evening's screening was attended by the director, Nick Murphy, and male leads Paul Bettany and Stephen Graham who participated in a Q/A post-film.

The story opens with the vicious murder of a 12-year old girl and the emotional impact of her murder on a police officer (Joe Fairburn as played by Bettany) leads to another tragedy that has dramatic consequences for him, his brother Chrissy (played by Graham) and their families including their father (played by Brian Cox, very good in the role). Joe and Chrissy are serving police detectives in the same unit that used to be headed by their father who has since retired and succumbed to dementia. The legacy of their bullying and heavy handed father affects them in their personal lives and as police officers.

The film is well acted, the scenes of the islands in the Wirral (exactly where the director grew up) are amazing, and there are some very clever moments as the plot develops and as Joe and Chrissy unravel. The best performance of the film (IMO obviously :D) came from Mark Strong as the brothers' colleague who served under their father and remembers the type of thuggish officer he once was. He is cool and collected, at times almost glacial, and delivers a compelling performance as counterpoint to the highly emotive roles of Joe and Chrissy.

The brothers' father, Lenny, as a dementia sufferer is an interesting role in terms of the film's main theme, guilt, which Nick Murphy spoke about this evening. Basically his guilt for his behaviour as a dad and policeman has almost been absolved by virtue of his suffering dementia and losing his memory about what happened and his responsibilities in that. The guilt ends up being borne by the sons although a quirk in the plot towards the end finds Lenny trying to take on his sons' guilt.

HM to Ade Edmondson who has a cameo as an OCD sufferer; he was superb as the character who was heartbreaking.

A good film with a decent plot that is delivered by a strong cast. My rating is 7/10.

Why problem make? When you no problem have, you don't want to make ...

[–] humphreywalwyn 12 years ago

100% agree Poppytransfusion

A solid police drama that's well acted and well directed. I really cannot fault it. It did exactly what it set out to do.

The only thing to say is that despite it being cinematic, the quality of TV police dramas now is so good (and cinematic) that it feels as though TV should be the movies home. I know that is where it came from, Bill Gallagher's Conviction, and Blood is a very good adaptation. It just feels squeezed, and I would want to spend more time understanding the characters and their actions.

Was it over when the Germans bomb Pearl Harbour?

[–] pablo-taylor 12 years ago

Good actors both but aren't Stephen Graham and Paul Bettany very unlikely siblings?

[–] PoppyTransfusion 12 years ago

Good actors both but aren't Stephen Graham and Paul Bettany very unlikely siblings?

One of the questions at the Q/A was a sarcastic one about the 'likeness' between the two. The director said that what mattered to him more was the quality of the acting they could bring to their respective roles and that it would have been worse to have similar looking actors giving lesser performances. So I guess he's asking we suspend belief in brothers looking alike.

The role of Chrissy that Graham played is slightly against the type he's known for in other films/TV programmes and Graham himself commented on this when he remarked about the amount of crying he was required to do.

Why problem make? When you no problem have, you don't want to make ...

[–] humphreywalwyn 12 years ago

That surprisingly didn't bother me. They're both great actors.

The main hang up for me was Paul Bettany's character (and this may be to do with the baggage he carries from other roles) being ashamed / running away from his past life with his dad.

I thought he came across as someone trying to get away from his dad's way of doing things, as his family was very middle class (Wife works in a book store, daughter cross country running). I thought that that was going to be an interesting angle they would play, but no. Paul Bettany and Brian Cox get drunk, Cox mentions the island, and the next thing you know Paul Bettany is smacking someone over the head.

As I said maybe I'm picking up Bettany's baggage, but he didn't feel at home with his brother or dad. Part of that could be the physical resemblance, but most of it seemed to be deliberate.

Was it over when the Germans bomb Pearl Harbour?

[–] PoppyTransfusion 12 years ago

The main hang up for me was Paul Bettany's character (and this may be to do with the baggage he carries from other roles) being ashamed / running away from his past life with his dad.

I thought he came across as someone trying to get away from his dad's way of doing things, as his family was very middle class (Wife works in a book store, daughter cross country running). I thought that that was going to be an interesting angle they would play, but no. Paul Bettany and Brian Cox get drunk, Cox mentions the island, and the next thing you know Paul Bettany is smacking someone over the head.

As I said maybe I'm picking up Bettany's baggage, but he didn't feel at home with his brother or dad. Part of that could be the physical resemblance, but most of it seemed to be deliberate.

Do you mean by this the direction the screen play went or are you critiqueing Bettany's performance?

Why problem make? When you no problem have, you don't want to make ...

[–] arbino-man 11 years ago

Who knows when this film might hit over here, so just wondering who dies in this film?

How big of a role does Mark Strong have in the film?

[–] PoppyTransfusion 11 years ago

Not sure where you are but its release date is 2013.

Who dies: a girl at the beginning of the film and then the main suspect for her killing.

Mark Strong has a support role but he has lots of screen time and was my favourite of the main 4 actors who are Bettany, Graham, Cox and Strong.

Fatima had a fetish for a wiggle in her scoot

[–] arbino-man 11 years ago

That's a great cast.

Who play's the main suspect? Sorry for all questions, but how big is Brian Cox's role and is this something you would watch again?

[–] PoppyTransfusion 11 years ago

No problem with the questions :)

Ben Crompton plays the main suspect Jason Buleigh.

Cox has a fair amount of screen time. Bettany has the most screen time, followed by Grahame and then Cox/Strong more or less equal with their characters becoming more important towards the end of the film.

I'm willing to watch any film with Paul Bettany more than once. But yes I will watch this again as I'd like to better appreciate how it's shot and the use of the islands without being preoccupied with the plot.

Fatima had a fetish for a wiggle in her scoot

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] PoppyTransfusion 11 years ago

It is a good ensemble. I can't understand the low rating because when you look at the rating breakdown far more have rated this 7 and above than below 5. I gave it a 7/10 but 8 or 9/10 wouldn't be beyond belief.

To say a little often is to tell more than to say a great deal.

[–] Jubei_kibegami 11 years ago

Great cast, good camera work, nice soundtrack, a film giving their actors time to show how good they are. I give it a 7.

[–] Joe_Rog 10 years ago

PoppyTransfusion I just watched this film, i thought it was great, i thought it was probably one of the best ensemble of solidly good british actors who aren't A-listers that can rake in the money just by being cast.

I'm with you that Mark Strong's character was my favourite, he's the kinda person you want to know in real life because he seems to have life kinda sown up for himself (except the relationship front but then not everyone wants to be committed)

The only downside to this film is that it should have been a proper big film ( maybe 30mins longer with a better plot) or made into an hour long 6 part series so we could see the characters develop more with maybe a more intersting plot.

Was this film made for tv? or was it actually a serious film? Because the actors are all serious hollywood actors so it seems silly to make it a tv film.

It was a great film as i say, you reallyw anted to know more about the characters and their backgrounds, it kinda rushed straight into the plot.

I also liked Adrian Edmonson's cameo too, it was probably one of the weirdest cameos i've ever seen from an actor who hasn't acted for a long time! Being a big Bottom fan (excuse the pun) and general Adrian Edmonson and Rik Mayall fan it was nice to see him acting again, and i didn't once think he was playing Eddy, he needs to get back into acting!