 Image via Wikipedia |
| Anne Hathaway |
At the hundred year old Duke of York's I saw "The Guard" and at the Cineworld multiplex concealed in the multistorey car park at Brighton Marina I saw "One Day"
"One Day" lived up to expectations, and perhaps because the screenplay was written by the author, seemed to be admirably faithful to the book. I really had one major criticism of the book and without issuing a spoiler I can only say that the same criticism (which is a fundamental plot point) can be leveled at the film.
The theme of the book (and the explanation for its title) is the traditional romantic comedy theme of two friends of opposite sex, having failed to unite romantically at the start of their relationship, failing to notice that they are made for each other, in this case as we look in on their lives on the same day each year, until eventually... but the latter part of the book and the film have some surprises.
The short span allowed a conventional film is not perhaps best suited to the structure of this story. We are told by on-screen text the date in question and without that device it would be very difficult to appreciate the time-shifts given the very small amount of time available for each temporal vignette. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for the actors, given that films are not shot sequentially, to be playing the same character as 23 in the morning and 43 in the afternoon and then having to be rejuvenated all over again for another scene.
The short span allowed a conventional film is not perhaps best suited to the structure of this story. We are told by on-screen text the date in question and without that device it would be very difficult to appreciate the time-shifts given the very small amount of time available for each temporal vignette. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for the actors, given that films are not shot sequentially, to be playing the same character as 23 in the morning and 43 in the afternoon and then having to be rejuvenated all over again for another scene.
There has been a lot of criticism of the casting, but for me the players filled the roles without jarring too much with my mental image. Despite complaints leveled at the choice of an American in the role of Emma, I found Anne Hathaway, to be very much how I imagined the character while reading the book. The many comments about her accent should not have been allowed to deter people from seeing the film because, beside being sometimes more Yorkshire than others, it doesn't detract from the performance and at no time does it sound to me anything other than English rather than American.
Another complaint I've heard is that the male lead is obnoxious and unlikeable but this is the way the character is written and his fall and possible redemption are a key thread of the novel. It certainly seems unjust that it should be levelled at the actor as a criticism.
Rafe Spall as the unfortunate failed stand-up Ian is a scene-stealer whenever he is on screen and perhaps more likeable than the character appeared to me in the novel.
After emerging from the depths of the multistory car park multiplex, I walked back along the sea-front and then past the sadly derelict Astoria cinema to the “Duke's” where I had a glass of red wine on the terrace and then took my seat in the balcony while I watched a wonderful perfomance by Brendan Gleeson in “The Guard”. Written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, the brother of the writer/director who obtained such a great performance from Gleeson in "In Bruges".
 Image via Wikipedia | |
| Brendan Gleeson |
This Irish film about a deliciously cynical, and somewhat amoral, Gard and his miss-matched relationship with an FBI agent (played by Don Cheadle) sent to tackle a gang of large scale drug smugglers. As well as these two we meet a number of other interesting characters including bent cops, prostitutes, a representative of the IRA and the Gard's mother and we learn a great deal about Gerry (the Gard)'s life.
While not averse to some decidedly non-politically correct behaviour and some colourful views on life we discover that at heart the gard is a good man, or at least somewhat less tarnished and more brave than his largely useless colleagues.
The relationship with Don Cheadle is far from fitting the stereotypical miss-matched buddy type and although they work effectively together at the end, it would be difficult to say that they evre come to actually like each other. Some sort of grudging respect is about the most that could be argued.
It is another marvellously watchable performance by Gleeson who is very ably supported by Cheadle and in fact by the actors that play the villains, his mother and his boss. It is bound to be on my short list for film of the year I think and I can't wait to buy the DVD and watch it again. Despite being largely focused on the fascinating eponymous character it also stands up as a proper policier and has a suitably action-packed denouement.
No comments:
Post a Comment