Before You Go

I am a A Level Drama student and for my final performance my group are performing 'The Memory of Water' the original play by Shelagh Stephenson. As soon as our group read the script we thought it was great, it has plenty of humour and pace and great characters and is a pleasure to read and perform.

So when we discovered this movie version we were expecting a little gem of a film... however this was not the case! Not even the all star cast could save this film from sinking. It was truly disappointing - the acting was poor and the whole mood of the film was completely lack lustre. The directors interpretation completely downplayed all the humour in the play and the witty and bickering tension between the sisters. He turned the play into one long boring non-event.

I would highly recommend the play, but to anyone else performing this play I would give this film version a definite miss as you will only be left disappointed!

When their mother passes away, estranged sisters Theresa, Mary and Catherine come back together for the funeral. Theresa is the eldest and expected to hold everything together despite her own stresses. Mary is being "haunted" by visions of her dead mother, bringing buried secrets and pain to the surface – a situation not helped by her already fragile relationship with married lover Mike. Meanwhile youngest sister Catherine seems no different from the last time she was seen – spinning from man to man, keeping everything soft with drug use. As the funeral approaches, secret or buried hurts come out within the family.

From Lewis Gilbert and featuring a great cast when I read the credits in the paper, I had reasonable hopes for this film. Sadly they were mostly dashed in a film that didn't seem to have a handle on what it actually wanted to do. The result of this is that the script is keen to embrace a quick joke or attempts at colourful characters but seems either unwilling or (more likely) unable to get to the heart of the matter and deliver and emotionally engaging film that is full or real hurt, real healing and real people. This leaves the film floating around in a way that is not bad but is certainly not any good – meaning that I got more and more bored as the film went on, to the point where I left the room for five minutes but couldn't be bothered to pause the DVD.

The cast aren't able to do much without the help of writer or director. Walters flaps around but is nothing more than a flustered comedy character who doesn't actually produce laughs. Whalley is handed the greater responsibility and the stronger character but fails to do much with it; she and her mother share the strongest scenes but neither is that good and their scenes lack a real emotional hook. Hamilton is only ever annoying and feels like an easy cliché for the writers, once they had written the first two characters. The male support is so-so mainly because neither Hannah or Wilkinson are really given much to work with and are very much on the edges of the film.

Overall this was a disappointing film that didn't do anything that it had the potential to do. Not bad per se but it certainly isn't any good as it roundly fails to deliver on the promise of complex relationships. The cast offer much but aren't given anything to work with and only do OK. Not really worth a look to be honest.

I watched this film on the plane just a little while after my Mom passed away...and I laughed and I cried watching it. In many ways their is something in most peoples past and relationships with parents/lovers/wives which this film does bring to the fore. I found it moving and ultimately satisfying that a resolution was reached by all the characters in their own way. I watched it with our 21 year old daughter last week and she enjoyed it - she who enjoys the latest blockbuster inc Twilight series, Thor, X-Men etc....enjoyed this film about sisters getting together at their mothers funeral. That is a testament in itself!

This film was a joy from start to finish. The diversity of characters was interesting and the acting by all was superb. The story is touching, full of laughs and no one really takes centre stage. This film truely delivered what it was meant to. Julie walters was wondeful as the eldest sister and had me laughing out loud in places as did the younger sister. The male support was amazing, it couldnt be anything else with Tom wilkinson. Very colourful characters, a film that really does get to the heart of the matter in a way thats easy to watch. This film makes you laugh and smile and want to watch it again and again. The last review makes a criticism that the cast arnt able to do much without the help of the writer or director but then goes on to say the cast offer much but arnt' given anything to work with.

For anyone reading this that hasnt had the opportunity to watch this film, please watch it. Its wonderful

I can't understand why somebody would bother assembling such an amazing cast - Julie Walters, Tom Wilkinson, Victoria Hamilton etc. - and then waste them on such appalling material.

No wonder Britain doesn't have anything approaching a film industry if projects such as this are seen as worthy of funding. TV movies starring Kate Jackson or Lyndsay Wagner ('Please Don't Take My Owl - The Jodie Lee Boxheimer Story' etc. etc.) are eminently more watchable than this trite, aimless, middle class nonsense.

Britain has some of the greatest acting talents in the world. Is this really the best we can come up with for them?

Shameful.