A Matter of Choice

It's been about 15 years since I saw this film but I recall it was actually a very good film. It deals with the implications of everyday decisions, in this case the decision made by two people over which route to take home, and how these fateful decisions can effect a wide circle of people. Low budget and black and white with no standout acting performances, it is nevertheless coherent and thought provoking.

A MATTER OF CHOICE is an interesting piece of social drama mixed with more traditional crime and thriller aspects which viewers of British B-cinema will be used to. It's directed by the hard-working Vernon Sewell and tells an atypical story about a couple of skirt-chasing young men whose lives fatefully cross with those of an adulterous couple one night. The ponderous narration at the film's opening alerts us to the fact that this is a morality piece, exploring how a single trivial decision can lead unknowingly into disaster.

The problem with the film is that it's very slowly paced and the main plot elements don't occur until half the movie has elapsed. The viewer is saddled with the two youths for much of the running time and they don't make for much in the way of company, stuck in the same kind of superficial rut as the characters in THE DAMNED, BEAT GIRL, THE SYSTEM, and a dozen other similar works of social commentary released during the era.

The second half includes the police investigation and is more involved. There's a nice role for Ballard Berkeley, for once cast against type as a cuckolded husband. Anthony Steel (ALBERT, R. N.) does well as the adulterer too. The ending is solid, but doesn't feel of much consequence really, and the whole thing has dated somewhat since release. As such, A MATTER OF CHOICE is a mildly interesting curio, nothing more.

Don't watch this film for the sake of Anthony Steel, because he is almost put out at once. You keep hoping for his recovery, he is after all Anthony Steel and the only star attraction of the film, but he does nothing to earn it. He is just swept away by those circumstances, which no one can do anything about, since no one ever could about the force of circumstances. Here they are exposed to their maximum of perplexity of chance. No one is really guilty of anything of all that happens, and yet they all contribute to their fantastic machination, being all perfectly innocent victims of chance. The two boys get away with pure fright, they least of all wanted anything of this to happen, and yet only they caused this fantastic train of events which no one could stop or control. At first the film seems innocent and stupid enough, young boys do foolish things, but when once there is a traffic casualty no one can stop the avalanche of destiny, really the force of circumstances. It's a wonderful, fantastic, skilfully contrived maze of a film, where only the audience can understand the utter helplessness of the unfortunate actors and their most unintentional mess.

Like in Hitchcock 's "family plot" (1976) ,there are two apparently independent plots; the prologue sets the tone: life is a matter of choice,and is what happens when you are busy making other plans .Fate may challenge the probability

Two boys wandering ,one of them taking a girl home and trying to pick her up (the scene verges on parody ,the actors ,mainly the girl , are a little ludicrous) ; an unfaithful wife ,leaving for California on a business trip with her husband, much to her lover's displeasure .

An incident at a vending-machine will change all the characters' life as the two stories become one .The first part drags on a little, (the long scene in the boy's flat with the girl looks like a cartoon ,Tweetie Pie and Sylvester style),but from the incident (and the accident), there's no letup as the movie continues to build in suspense as many sudden new developments happen (some of them a bit implausible,why THAT garage?) .But the title tells it all :it's a matter of choice .And the story is gripping ,till its very last pictures .

Talking Pictures - 2025 Strange as I was expecting Anthony Steel to be the lead, but he did not have that much of a part at all.

The main parts were Mike and Tony whose introduction was very odd. They seemed like extras from Carrying On Camping rather than a couple of likely lads looking to pull girls.

Charles and Lisa Grant seemed ill-suited, although nice to see the Major from Fawlty Towers.

It was all rather wooden and didn't have the gritty realism of some of the kitchen-sink dramas of the time.

However, the plot was quite good and the ending had a twist which would have had serious implications for the "likely lads".