A Matter of Choice

A MATTER OF CHOICE is an interesting piece of social drama mixed with more traditional crime and thriller aspects which viewers of British B-cinema will be used to. It's directed by the hard-working Vernon Sewell and tells an atypical story about a couple of skirt-chasing young men whose lives fatefully cross with those of an adulterous couple one night. The ponderous narration at the film's opening alerts us to the fact that this is a morality piece, exploring how a single trivial decision can lead unknowingly into disaster.

The problem with the film is that it's very slowly paced and the main plot elements don't occur until half the movie has elapsed. The viewer is saddled with the two youths for much of the running time and they don't make for much in the way of company, stuck in the same kind of superficial rut as the characters in THE DAMNED, BEAT GIRL, THE SYSTEM, and a dozen other similar works of social commentary released during the era.

The second half includes the police investigation and is more involved. There's a nice role for Ballard Berkeley, for once cast against type as a cuckolded husband. Anthony Steel (ALBERT, R. N.) does well as the adulterer too. The ending is solid, but doesn't feel of much consequence really, and the whole thing has dated somewhat since release. As such, A MATTER OF CHOICE is a mildly interesting curio, nothing more.

It's been about 15 years since I saw this film but I recall it was actually a very good film. It deals with the implications of everyday decisions, in this case the decision made by two people over which route to take home, and how these fateful decisions can effect a wide circle of people. Low budget and black and white with no standout acting performances, it is nevertheless coherent and thought provoking.

The IMDb need to revise their plot synopsis of this film as it reveals the ending, which is well worth waiting for.

Based on a story by the film's director and the actor Derren Nesbitt, who had recently worked together on 'The Man in the Back Seat' and 'Strongroom' and between them devised another engrossing account of escalating panic with a satisfyingly abrupt payoff at the conclusion; although the title and the opening narration that justifies it seem very much like last minute contrivances.

Like its predecessors it provides a vivid snapshot of life just after the Beatles' first LP (with London after dark full of men going home grumpy because all they'd got at the doorstep of the woman they'd just spent the evening lavishing what charm they could muster, along with their hard-earned money, was a quick "thank-you"). It's also crammed with fascinating period details like the nightclub which charges a whopping 5/- for admission - and the racial mixture of its clientele - and the malfunctioning sandwich machine which sets the whole final chain of events in motion.

Although top-billed, Anthony Steel is given very little to say or do...

Malcolm Gerald and Michael Davis get to their shared flat and find themselves at loose ends. They want to find some young women to have sex with, but a trip to a hip disco leaves them partnerless, so they head home. They want a sandwich, so they use an automat machine, but it doesn't work. This eventually results in their accidentally shoving a policeman in front of a car containing adulterers Anthony Steele and Jeanne Moody. Matters proceed from there with disaster all around.

There's an air of depression that overlays everything in this movie, a thorough sense of dissatisfaction with life and the world as matters ratchet forward; the young men want to do the right thing, but don't want any consequences. The lovers are unhappy with the situation, with Miss Moody preparing to go to California with her husband, leaving Steele to grumble and whine. I found myself wishing for a more moral world for this movie to take place in, but there's no sense of it, only consequences in a random universe.

Like in Hitchcock 's "family plot" (1976) ,there are two apparently independent plots; the prologue sets the tone: life is a matter of choice,and is what happens when you are busy making other plans .Fate may challenge the probability

Two boys wandering ,one of them taking a girl home and trying to pick her up (the scene verges on parody ,the actors ,mainly the girl , are a little ludicrous) ; an unfaithful wife ,leaving for California on a business trip with her husband, much to her lover's displeasure .

An incident at a vending-machine will change all the characters' life as the two stories become one .The first part drags on a little, (the long scene in the boy's flat with the girl looks like a cartoon ,Tweetie Pie and Sylvester style),but from the incident (and the accident), there's no letup as the movie continues to build in suspense as many sudden new developments happen (some of them a bit implausible,why THAT garage?) .But the title tells it all :it's a matter of choice .And the story is gripping ,till its very last pictures .