The Score

I started passively watching and quickly got sucked in by the quirky characters and the fresh musical interludes. I don't usually like musicals but found myself singing along and looking forward to the next. The writing is intelligent and the style is original. The film moves slowly, but leaves much to savor.

There's nothing worth watching or recommending here. The lead characters are atrocious and unlikeable. Both of them. The soundtrack is awful, against scenes making zero sense. Add some ridiculous dialogie with very bland, flat acting. The level of stupidity in the first 15 minutes should turn any discerning viewer away. When I saw the cast singing along to the opening music, which was the typical indie annoying pretentious drivel, I know I was in for a slog with this disaster. It's a plot done to death, but never as poorly as this one. Movies need coherence and logic, and there's none here. There's the obligatory black cast member too, of course. Rambling conversation to fill up scenes. Trust me, it's sloppy filth. I get that young people sing, but they don't sing folk music or the other lame tracks chosen for this movie. Considering what these dolts are about to do, they sure draw attention to themselves. Oh, it also dabbles ineffectively with social issues. Huge stinkeroo. I'd rather set myself on fire than endure this mess again.

You don't find movies done like this.

I put this on just to eat dinner, and ended up captivated by the dialog, subtle, clever, meaningful. This movie is never gonna please everyone and no musical has ever come off as "natural" but they kinda pulled it off(the songs are poems and they are meant to capture the characters internal fire). It's obviously done like a play(campy) and in the first couple minutes they talk about Shakespeare and poets.so you get the hint. Its one of those movies you might be embarrassed to get caught watching, if someone walked in during the singing but honestly, it was well directed(well acted, well shot) very well written and the story was quite captivating(the mystery of not knowing exactly what's going down) i didn't notice the pace being slow, i was too busy paying attention to the interactions of the players.

I'd say give it the fifteen minute test, if you don't like it, move along.

Though "music" is listed here (which could mean anything), I was not aware this was a musical before I started watching it. I simply thought, "Hey, there's that weird-looking guy with villainous brows and a pretty lady. The plot sounds okay, why not?"

And then their mouths started moving to the song (wasn't against the song, btw) and I went, "Wait, what?" I like a musical. But I like them better when I know beforehand that it's going to be a musical. The streaming service I'm watching this on doesn't even use the vague category of "music" to describe it, so it just seems like it's going to be a thriller.

Edit: So, I decided to give it another shot. Will Poulter and Naomi Ackie were enjoyable to watch. Will has a dumb kind of charm as this character (I hate to call him it that considering how often he's called "dumb"), and the two do a good job with portraying a tentative kind of chemistry. It seems an impossible situation because even 10,000£ isn't enough to do whatever. The Mike character is so hateable, just a miserable little man going around trying to make other people miserable. So, that actor did a good job as well.

But the singing...I either muted or fast-forwarded it. Very much unnecessary.

S/N: Why do British movies always have cheating in them? I watch so many British films and shows, and so many of them have a cheating plot or subplot. Maybe they don't realize, but it makes it seem like cheating is normal there.

I dislike most musicals, but every song in this was written and sung rather well by all the actors. The couple had an unusual chemistry that felt awkward, immature and yet quite natural given their supposed naive backstories. It's hard to fault a movie or show when Will Poulter is involved he really is intriguing to watch and made the film that much enjoyable with his comedic interactions with the other cafe customers.