Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle

I wanted to like this more than I did. Timothy Spall is one of my favorite actors.

The story is pretty straight forward as it was in the tagline.

I kept waiting for Mr. Harvey to unburden himself.

Not completely surprised by the way that it played out but and once again I enjoyed Mr. Spall's work.

I think for me the students were too precocious and played out poorly as well as the development of conflict, which bottomed out early on. I would like very much to find the final script because I felt like it was put together with a weak middle.

Whether I am right or not remains to be seen but it became a bit too melodramatic for me and I cannot in good faith recommend it.

I've certainly watched much worse as of late but this had potential to be much better than it was.

if you have a chance of seeing this film do see it. it's quite shocking in parts and really makes you think about so many important issues but it's not didactic. in my opinion it's a piece of art... beautifully filmed, fine music of many styles, the typically impressive level of acting that one has come to expect from BBC Drama. Nathalie Press (billed as 'Natalie' Press) is convincing in her role as depressed teenager exploited by a male classmate. Celia Imrie has that beautifully reassuring quality that gives the sometimes unnerving action stability and the viewer comfort in the knowledge that someone out there is actually 'normal', but the real star as always is Timothy Spall - surely one of the greatest actors of our time!

A group of teenage schoolchildren go on a school trip to Salisbury Cathedral, and behave like a bunch of school children. Mr Happy / The Incredible Sulk / Mr Harvey, (played by Timothy Spall) is actually revisiting the place where he proposed to his wife, and then went on to visit every Cathedral in England, whilst on their honeymoon. Mr Happy has his wallet stolen by one of the kids, and this becomes fundamental to the plot, because it contains a link to his tragic past with his new wife. This drama, like Carrie's War, and Goodnight Mr Tom, will probably be used for GCSE students, who will no doubt, do it more justice than I am able. It has the usual cross section of kids, most of whom are faithless, selfish, and uninterested in anything slightly educational ( a bit like many of today's kids in England) It is a journey for Mr Harvey and Helen (Natalie Press, who does well with the role of a depressed school kid). However, it's just a day out for Miss Davies (Celia Imrie) and Mr Cole (Ben Miles) and the opinionated bus driver (David Bradley) again doing a great job, as a character actor

This is a very English film, (although some of the religious undertones are a bit wider), and will have its supporters. I can't remember seeing Mr Harvey light his candle, but as I suggested earlier, this is a "made for schools drama," so the title is probably a metaphor. I almost feel like apologising for my lack of English Grammar in trying to comment on this film. However, we watch drama to be entertained, and I'm not sure that I was, even though it was thoughtful, thought provoking even.

Lucky me to have been flipping channels and to find this great movie as it was just starting, and even luckier to view it on a commercial free television network. This perfectly directed and acted film locked me in with the cast, where I felt like I was actually there and a part of the tour. The cast was totally believable as people of every day life you may have met or seen before. I normally watch movies a bit too critically and often see the cast as actors, but not this one.

While being a five year old movie as I viewed it, it's content and issues still stand up well in 2010.

I was totally inspired by the outcome. I whole heartedly recommend it. For me, it helped rearrange many years of preconditioned thinking, and has now given me more to think about.

There needs to be more powerfully written and produced films like this one.

Amazing acting, music. A simple and clear plot but it drew me in and kept me captivated all the way through. I don't know why it was so fantastic but it simply was. So many of the characters were so real. It moved me and made me think I would like to watch more like this.

The idea of a school trip as a forum for such an amazing plot was a genius idea and so many of the people were like people were like those encountered every day by teachers in the classroom.

The film tackles issues of religion, prejudice,drugs friendship, memories, difficult experiences and simple the diversity of life itself.