Having You

Having You is a small UK drama about a man about to marry his infertile girlfriend, who suddenly finds out he already has a child. It raises an interesting moral dilemma, should he stay with the girl he loves or potentially lose her and instead get to know the child he thought he would never have.

A strong cast helps featuring the beautiful Anna Friel and the always excellent Philip Davis all help to make the intelligent script sparkle. Andrew Buchan is very likable and evokes real sympathy as the man left in a lose lose situation. Interspersed with some realistic and at times touching drama there are plenty of funny lines. It is one of the rare films that gets the balance between drama and comedy spot on. An added bonus is an excellent soundtrack that fits the film perfectly.

This is one of those small gems that you occasionally come across unexpectedly. I found this to be an engrossing, believable and enjoyable film with a good pay off. Highly recommended.

An unexpected gem.

I started watching this on TV without having heard of it or seen any inkling of what it was about. I was immediately taken in by the story, which portrays a normal, good, average guy dealing with a difficult situation. It managed to capture my attention quickly because of its carefully crafted portrayal of life as it often is; flawed, imperfect, but ultimately well-meaning and plain "normal".

There is no unnecessary menace. No fabrication of conflict, often derived purely by the script-writers by forcing characters to "act stupid" in order to create drama that wouldn't otherwise exist (Walking Dead is a good example of that popular cinematic crime). Everyone (with perhaps the exception of the father, and Barry) makes decisions which we can all relate to, with no suspension of disbelief required. It is that which made the film both heartfelt, and truly engaging. At every turn I felt I could actually relate to the characters. A rare treat in this world of plastic cinema and counterfeit drama.

It is certainly slow moving, and lacking in "theatrics", but this is precisely why it works. It doesn't rely on cliches or any of the banal moralising tripe that swamps so many Hollywood films. The decisions and choices that the central characters makes are immediately humane and real.

If you like blockbusters, and only blockbusters, then you'll probably hate this film for its slow pace and lack of action. If, however, you aren't a soulless dolt then maybe you'll even shed a tear at the finale like I did. Unusually for me, I didn't feel totally manipulated in doing so.

Great cast, great script, great film.

After nine years, Jack (Andrew Buchan), proposes to his infertile girlfriend Camille (Romola Garai), whilst working in a seemingly poor job fixing old arcade machines with best (and possibly only) friend and boss Paul (Steven Cree), with his chess loving father Peter (Philip Davies) pressuring him to get a real job in order to fully support her. Complications, however, begin to arrive when Anna (Anna Friel) an old one night stand from years back, turns up at his doorstep with her seven year old son Phoenix (Issac Andrews) claiming that he just may be the father.

The most admirable thing about Having You is the character development and the writer's ability to keep them grounded and realistic, so that we care about them enough and grow invested in them. It's a tale of human nature and responsibility, and we follow Jack on his journey of coming to terms with the mistakes he has made and facing them like a true adult, responsibly and maturely; not to mention dealing with a shut down and difficult relationship with his father, the growing struggles of keeping his family a secret from the completely clueless Camille, and old habits rearing their ugly heads back into the picture as Jack struggles with the troubling hand he has been dealt.

A real plus in the matter is Steven Cree's witty and often hilarious portrayal of the easy-going boss (who acts more like a teenager trapped in a man's body), who really gives the film that comic relief in the occasional moments in which he shares screen time.

Towards the last half hour, the film takes a dramatic change in direction that does its job exceptionally well by building up the emotions and tension before delivering a powerful and heartbreaking finale that really hits the audience hard. Unfortunately, it is such a film that will go without any real recognition, and this is a real shame due to it's impressive quality and well crafted storytelling.

My Verdict: Emotional, character driven and grounded, Having You is one of those rare gems that sticks with you long after it's over.

Beautiful movie. Understated acting, but very expressive - the entire cast. Wonderful sound track. Lighting and sound extremely well done. (My hearing is not great and frequently small-budget movies, especially from the UK are marked by muffled dialogue.)

The story was moving without a wasted scene. In fact, a few of the scenes were so well done, and unveiled the interior life of the character so well, as to rank with the best I've watched in recent memory.

The ending was perhaps my least favorite part of the movie. It kept in tone with the rest, so it was of a piece. But it was unoriginal.

Last, both in the spots where the movie reached for laughs - and a few places where quirky acting hit me unexpectedly, I burst out laughing, which is rare for me. So many movies in this genre are just somber, or unable to hit the right comedic note - just the opposite here.

All told an extremely enjoyable film experience of the first order!

(28%) A sweet, perfectly acceptable, yet hugely unremarkable family based drama with a real flavour of a TV movie of the week about it. Nothing here really feels, low budget or not, like an actual feature film. This if anything is nothing more than a two part drama series that you'd expect to see at nine o'clock on ITV with its solid; yet nothing special cast of bit part actors, routine direction, and predictable plot. Despite the fact that this belongs on the small screen there's enough here to keep itself going, and the ending will tug at even the most cold of heart, but there's nothing here anyone needs to see.