jack-310

I really wanted to like this movie because the critics have been unkind

to it (to say the least)... but it was terrible. Really terrible. Badly

acted, a witless script, cack handed direction... Watching this film was

like watching a car crash- you want to look away but you keep staring

because you want to see how messy it's going to get. Well, the car is

wrecked and there are no survivors. On the plus side, the cinematography

was nice, made me want to go on holiday, if only to cleanse myself from

this unholy

A good attempt to do something different. Has a weird, off-beat feel to it, and the community hidden away in the highlands is well drawn. The cast do well in fleshing out their characters, and there is a sense of foreboding and melancholy that slowly creeps up on you. At first I wasn't totally convinced by Charlie (Alistair McKenzie)'s journey as a character, until he's wondering through the woods and finds an old rusty trampoline. With nobody around, he's free to bounce up and down on it like a kid. This sounds a bit dumb, but it was really quite effective - you really got the sense of a guy finally being able to open up and enjoy himself. Good stuff all round, well directed, moody cinematography, deserves to be seen by a wider audience. .

This might have worked okay as a tv drama, but as a film I have to admit

I became pretty bored within half an hour. It's neither realistic enough

to be moving, or funny enough to be a comedy. Maybe it's just me, but I

found my sympathy lying with the Jimmy character- he wants to make a

fresh start with his family. Shirley seems to feel the same way, but at

the end makes the decision to stay with Dec based on her daughter.

I didn't understand the connection made to Westerns either. Although the

music was excellent, it seemed more of an excuse to use the title "Once

Upon A Time..." rather than anything else.

I felt if the film had been trimmed considerably then maybe I would've

have enjoyed it more, as it was it seemed to drag to a conclusion that

could be seen a mile off. There wasn't nearly enough substance to make

the viewer want to continue watching. I don't mind if films don't have

substance as long as there is some kind of wow factor to keep you

watching, but in this case that was sadly lacking. I don't think Ritchie

is a bad director and I still rather see any of his films that his

namesake Guy's, but this was a case of too little, too long.



That said, the actress playing Shirley's daughter was excellent, and her

performance was moving. And Rhys Ifans on his hands and knees in front

of James Cosmo saying "Please don't do anything sexual" did make me

laugh out loud. It's just a shame the rest of the film didn't