The Irishman emailed me at work tonight totally out of the blue, having remembered from our conversation a month ago that it was my birthday around this date. We ended up catching up for a quick drink tonight and might be seeing each other again this Friday at the Glasshouse if things go to plan. Hmm, not quite sure how I feel about this, but also trying not to get my hopes up.
Clubland is mostly well acted (although Richard Wilson as the brain-damaged Mark is sometimes less than convincing, while leading man Khan Chittenden as the virginal Tim is easy on the eyes but struck me as needing a director who will push him harder) but lacks the bite and characterisation in its screenplay that would make it great. Nonetheless, this film about the sort of mother you just want to slap and her passive-aggressive relationships with her sons is honest and original. Three 'Thank god she's not my mother's out of five.
Romulus, My Father is too episodic to be truly captivating; nor is the acting from Franka Potente as Raimond Gaita's mentally ill mother convincing enough to make her character as three-dimensional as the narrative requires. A promising but flawed directorial debut from Richard Roxburgh. Two and half occasional glances at the time out of five.
3 comments:
Ooooooh the Irishman!! You're on his mind!!! You go boyfriend!!
The Irishman: playing it cool is definitely the way, but nice that he made contact!
Clubland: saw this the other day myself. I agree with you on the whole, though I though Khan did a good job with the virginal nervousness. Brenda Blethyn really stole the show though, which is appropriate given her character. I'm curious to see what Khan makes of his role in West, though what I've heard of the film doesn't make me want to rush out to see it.
I felt Romulus was a bit...lacking also. People were crying as they left the cinema which made me feel heartless!
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