The Swearing Jar

The Swearing Jar is a new musical romantic drama directed by Lindsay MacKay. After Wet Bum, this is only the second film she has directed.

Carey (Adelaide Clemens) is a young musician and is in a relationship with Simon (Patrick J. Adams). Their relationship isn't perfect, because sometimes they love each other very much, other times they also hate each other incredibly. Yet they are expecting a child together.

When they can't see each other for a while, Carey bumps into another man with whom she also seems to have good chemistry. This leaves Carey with a difficult choice.

The story of this film was written by Kate Hewlett, who further based it on her own play. Together with the director, she ensures that the film remains faithful to this play. The story only remains on a predictable side and for a romantic drama the film offers little else.

What the film manages to carry is more the beautiful singing work of the cast members, who have a good chemistry with each other, but otherwise it remains a standard romantic drama. For example, after the singing and their good mutual chemistry, the cast members also seem a bit standard when the romance and songs retreat a bit.

Someone else reviewed this film and likened it to a Hallmark movie. I can only surmise they have never seen a Hallmark movie because there is no similarity whatsoever.

It's a beautifully crafted set of snapshots of all the places we go as people during our relationships. It shows us our strengths and our weaknesses, it shows that life has one course to lead but many adventures along the way and we have to embrace everything we can and let go of all that we can too.

Clemens is beautiful in this film, she truly is the epitome of Carey: of all women living Carey's life. She reminds me of a young Michelle Williams. Raw, but cleverly raw.

The direction and dialogue is superb, and I watched it all in one go which is rare for me. If you sometimes wonder about life and love and death and loss, watch this.

This movie is like watching a play, and is full of true human nuance of emotions. Extremely relatable brilliant moments explored: humor, pain, awkwardness, and especially love: all delivered by extremely talented actors. The plot pulls at the heart strings, is intriguing, strange and fun. Enjoying, and sinking into a movie like this is what life is about. My boyfriend and I were glued to the string and really appreciated the authenticity in the performances. Kathleen Turner is an absolute channeler and sweeps you up into this world. Adelaide Clemens is mesmerizing, hilarious, and makes an absolutely flawed character, lovable, understandable, and so human.

This actually develops into a touching and complex story. But it takes a while to clarify the lines, so that if feels like nothing is quite happening for a little too long (despite some very original pieces right at the start). I'm not sure how much the unresolved confusion is meant to put the viewer off the track and how much is failure to think through the exposition, but I almost bowed out early a number of times. The story as it shapes up touches on some important themes of grief and recovery, but then it becomes a little predictable as well. It's also true that the moment Katherine Turner comes in she is so much stronger a presence than anyone else that it puts the otherwise engaging indie actors at a disadvantage. There is some good music, well-placed, but it only comes in and out. It never quite defines the tone.

This was , a film about love and relationship, swearing and promising, secrets and decieft, loss and pain, periodplanning and having a baby, a film about life and death, hormonal imbalance and deadly disease, and not to forget the importance of having a family, however bad it is.

A small casted but ever so filled with beautifulness, faces that i wont easy forget, especially ms.clemmens, cause she really reminded me about someone that i used to know.

Its a film about how priceless life is when youre in the turmoil of living it, and testifyes how shortlived life is. So grab your dear ones by the hand and live out your desires, because therell be a day when it all ends, very abrubt and senseless...

a well interpreted script from a novel that isnt to well known internationally, nevertheless they cant rip away the fact that this is a production that contains near perfect harmony, the cast is merely perfect for the caracters, and the musical score and vocal talents of ms. Clemmens is just unbelievable...

i might sound like a baptized grumpy old man that usually hates romcoms, but when it comes with twists and turns that are so earthshakingly shocking as in this feature movie there are no other way round than ...SEE THIS... i will for sure bring my wife in for a 2nd look, have allready bougt a kolli of kleenex, cause, yeah , its that kind of movie. Simply perfect and dug deep in m,y sole.