Goodbye

William Nicholson both wrote and directed this artistic and sensitive little cinematic masterwork. The story examines relationships and the breakdown of marriage in a manner that is heartbreaking yet beautifully introspective.

Grace (Annette Bening) is a religious woman married to Edward (Bill Nighy), a professor at a local school who is not religious, and their marriage seems stable though with little communication on Edward's part. They are approaching a twenty-ninth wedding anniversary and the ties that bind their marriage appear fragile. Their son Jamie (Josh O'Connor) is involved in the tech industry and seems aloof. Edward shares his affair and love for another woman and tells Grace that he is leaving her. The life change plays out with each of the three - Grace is furious, hurt, and in denial, while Edward is having difficulty with the machinations of the end of their marriage, and Jamie is torn between his love for both parents and the crush of his beliefs systems that appear to unravel. Grace ultimately regains her footing and discovers a new, powerful voice and ultimately finds a way to be happy.

The cinematography by Anna Valdez-Hanks heightens the emotional impact of the film as does the musical score by Alex Heffes. Annette Bening, Bill Nighy, and Josh Charles offer polished performances and the small attending cast members are excellent. The addition of poetry greatly enhances the film's messages. But the primary contributor to the success of this film is the script and direction by Nicholson, who to date has written such films as Les Miserables, Unbroken, and Gladiator. He is a major talent. In all, this is a small but vibrant film that deserves a very large audience.

This is an English movie, set and filmed in the small city of Seaford, on the coast almost directly south of London. Just east of town are some white limestone cliffs and a spot there is called "Hope Gap", thus the title of the movie. It is a place the couple and their young son, now an adult, would often go, being a short walk up a hill from town.

Annette Bening, using the best British accent she can muster, is Grace and always reliable Bill Nighy is her husband of 29 years, Edward. He is quiet and non-confrontational, she is just the opposite and can easily be overbearing. Now an issue that has been building for some time, over a year, is coming to a head.

This is a good movie, perhaps my wife and I appreciate it more because we are of ages similar to theirs, and we have been married 28 1/2 years. You get into a routine, you know what each other likes and what each other's habits are. You don't really discuss "how is the relationship going?"

It isn't really amplified in the story but they mention that the two met 30 years earlier when he got onto the wrong train, often two single people will take that as an omen, "Fate brought us together." But that kind of thinking is dangerous and no substitute for getting to know someone really well before you decide that will be your partner for life. It looks like Grace and Edward would have each been happier if they had never met. Then pity the poor son who would never have existed!

We watched this at home on DVD from our public library.

The plot is pretty powerful. It tells how a woman is in denial about her marriage. Annette Bening just delivers a wonderful performance that makes you care about her. The scenery of coastal Britain is very beautiful too. This film is a good watch.

Hope Gap

The title put me off viewing this but when I finally did this was very good.

A tight script with even tighter acting, the great revelation being the total lack of insight Grace, played by Annette Benning, showed in her understanding of her behaviour to others. I am even unclear even at the end of the movie that she had made any progress on this point and this was where her personal redemption lay. I am glad she got what she deserved when the worm turned!

With that said it had great insight into the human condition and I really enjoyed the whole thing.

I'm giving this a hard 7 for the nuance of delivery by Benning it was an acting masterclass.

"Say not the struggle nought availeth, the labour and the wounds are vain, the enemy faints not, nor faileth, and as things have been they remain." An important passage of one of Arthur Hugh Clough's most recognized poems, is easily one of the most important messages from William Nicholson's long awaited sophomore feature Hope Gap. A story about hope, persistence and hard work for the things in life that matter the most, Hope Gap is a small film, but size never seems to be a determining factor of poignancy. Just like a well written poem, Hope Gap is a little piece of reality for the struggles, hardships and sometimes, maybe even often times, emotionally violent feats one may take to overcome heartbreak.

Upon watching Hope Gap, I found the film resonating very deep within my heart and soul. Having endured a heartfelt and emotional withering of my own relationship, the film treads lightly the very real and hard to swallow realities of moving on.

Plot wise, the film is a very familiar story. As the film opens up, we are quickly introduced to a very simple family; Edward (Bill Nighy) a professor at a local school, Grace, religious mother and poet enthusiast (Annette Bening) and their tech-savvy son Jamie (Jack O'Connor), who has recently moved away from his parents quaint seaside town and into the city. Upon the arrival of Grace and Edward's twenty-ninth wedding anniversary, an elderly Edward (Bill Nighy) informs Grace that he is leaving him for another woman.

As the unravelling of Grace and Edward's marriage begins, very simple yet complex themes of happiness, communication and relationships encompass the film. Within the first ten minutes of the film, Grace and Edward's relationship is spotlighted by how a lack of communication shows how their relationship begins to wither. Discussion of a simple anniversary dinner date, as well as a belief and faith in God shows both of their large differences in the relationship pushes Edward away. Grace, who is so passionate and feisty, laments her own emotions onto Edward, who, lifelessly and aimlessly just goes through the motions of the final days of their marriage. It becomes quite clear that the routine, repetitiveness and familiarity of Edward's life with Grace takes a toll on how he sees his future may be, and therefore rejects and denies it when he begins to fall in love with another woman.

Nicholson's script and direction is super tight and extremely relatable in a time where the large gaps between generations, especially between parents and children, are more visible than ever. Nicholson uses his very talented cast, moistly in Bening and Nighy, as well as the highly underrated O'Connor showcase their acting skills in nuanced yet powerful ways. Nicholson treads light waters and uses the weight of little things having value in relationships and how certain partners characteristics leads to problematic formulas of action/reaction and the lack thereof.

Hope Gap is wonderful film who's biggest enemy are not the cheaters, the faithfuls or the innocent bystanders who get caught in the cross-fires of love; the greatest enemy in Hope Gap are the fears that individuals tend to forget when it comes to growing a life, raising a family and getting older entails. These fears, like, being adequate companions to a spouse, projecting your beliefs onto your children, as well as the expectations people have for others, without expecting much from themselves, become the very fabrics of why Hope Gap succeeds as a portrait of a failed marriage, but also bridges the spaces of simple narrative storytelling.

Hope Gap isn't a movie you see, it's a movie you feel, similar to the way Edward explains to his wife how trying to force their son to believe in God is not the path he nor his son sees fit. "You don't tell love, you feel love", says Edward. Hinting early on in the film his very own emotions to a wife that seems deaf to his cries and pleas of change and growth.

One of the marvellous feats of Hope Gap is its ability to, although showcasing the faults and incompatibilities of each spouse to the audience as well as to each other, never makes either one of the partners a villain or a hero. Grace and Edward move on with their individual lives in manners that seem to not only evolve their characters, but also allow their son Jamie to find peace and happiness in the unfolding of his parents marital demise.

One of the most reoccurring dialogues in the film, is the idea of being happy and being fine. As Grace so eloquently states, "Fine isn't the same as happy" when discussing Jamie's love life in the city and his lack of companionship in his single flat, as well as Edward's responses whenever Grace asks him how his days are and how he is feeling. This simple use of narrative foreshadowing and these little bits of dialogue really pushes the points towards the fact that marriages are not easy; relationships are not simple, yet, its the decisions made between two people and the actions of their love that bridges the gap towards the idea that their love, their failed marriage and the time spent together, brought them their greatest accomplishment, their son.

It is quite obvious that Hope Gap may not be the happiest film you may see in 2020, but it sure is one damn fine film.