Film Reviews by JB

Bill Night charmingly poignant as ever in this examination of loss and grief. Lovely stylish mise en scene and intelligent diegesis. Great supporting cast - plus a clever mad couple of minutes from Alexei Sayle. The title isn't quite right for the theme which makes me suspect that some connections were left on the cutting room floor. Do watch the deleted scene: you can see why they cut it, but it adds some information that you might be glad to have.

Very artistic scenes in bleak Canadian surroundings - gorgeous, in an ironic way, around the gaol. Visually stunning. The story takes a while to gather momentum, but it's well worth the wait as time passes for the prison and we come to see that the narrative is really about who these largely impassive people are, and what their emotions might be.

Can't wait for disc 2 to arrive now!

This is an enjoyable, if small scale movie. It cleverly satirises in two directions: both the Western, and the British domestic tragi-comedy.  The sound track alone is great fun, and I find I’m talking myself upwards towards a four star review.   The film has genuinely scary bad guys, genuinely sympathetic working class characters who are blundering through their difficult lives. Robert Carlyle is terrific as the tightly-wound outsider, returning in the hope of redeeming himself and his life. I missed a lot of his dialogue, because I struggle with the Glasgow accent - but maybe that was the point? The film is intelligent enough to have been doing that on purpose. Rhys Ifans is appropriately gormless with dog-like devotion. (I’d guess a Labrador.)  Other parts also really well played, and the scenery of an ordinary Midlands town photographed with superb irony. 

This beautifully made film is performed with a large, patient tolerance of human nature. The gentle central character is a kind of holy fool, who still finds ways to live in a seedy, difficult world. The story of his optimism unrolls with calm inevitability into an ambiguous final moment. Enchantingly grim.