Before You Go

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.

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!

A story of bereavement and grieving with lots of comic relief, an absent minded priest and three very different sisters coming back to their childhood home for the funeral of their Mother. We loved this movie, the location was breathtaking, the actors were excellent and the story kept us glued. Maybe coming from a three sister family and being the youngest I could identify with the characters and their strange relationships with their mother. There was lots of humour in the movie, but we had debates throughout as to the location, the accents were Lancashire/northern English yet they were supposed to have grown up on the Isle of Man. I would recommend this movie as a good watch if you like Julie Walters and British comedy/drama in general, if you're into action and car chases - leave it on the shelf.

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!

Seven years after his thrilling movie "Haunted", Lewis Gilbert released his next movie, based on the Olivier Award-winning stage play by Shelagh Stephenson (who also adapted it for the big screen). Some critics (like Gaby Wood from "The Observer) loathed it and tore it into shreds, saying, "It was a shame that Gilbert decided to do another movie", others loved its beauty and serenity.

The movie is a tragic comedy, or a funny tragedy. Basically, it's a deeply moving portrayal of a torn-apart family, the story of three wasted lives, but it's also an ode to the women, or to the strength that only women seem to be capable of.

Julie Walters, who was the star of Gilbert's hit movie "Educating Rita", delivers a stunning performance - probably one of the best performances in her entire career. Joanne Whalley is equally good in her portrayal of Mary, and you can't take your eyes off the gorgeous Patricia Hodge, who's playing their mother. The only bad performance, matter-of-factly, comes from Victoria Hamilton who's overacting in every scene she's in. She seemed to be resistant against Gilbert's masterful direction.

Debbie Wiseman's haunting, compelling score is flowing gently through the film, and the photography leaves you breathless. "Before You Go" was shot almost entirely on location on the Isle of Man (only very few shots were made at Twickenham Studios). Gilbert's sense for beautiful settings has always been unique - even in his three former based-on-stage-play movies ("Alfie", "Educating Rita", and "Shirley Valentine") you could perceive that.

Alas, the talents of John Hannah and Tom Wilkinson, both very fine actors, are basically wasted here. But after all, this is a woman's movie. And a great one.