Flashbacks of a Fool

I thought Flashbacks Of A Fool was about a decadent narcissist fast living actor and the crazy life he led with all the sex,drugs and parties. Well, it is but only in the first minutes of the film, what you'll see here is his childhood.After the death of his best friend, Joe Scott sits back and in a extended flashback the movie shows us how he was as a teenager and how life was in the 70's.The story is very interesting and the movie was beautifully shot and the musical score couldn't be more appropriated(just ignore that final music when the credits roll over).There's also a lip sync scene you won't forget. Daniel Craig was great, he has great charisma, I would really like to see more of him outside of the 007 franchise.Harry Eden did a great job as well and seems to be a very promising actor. Best movie I've seen in quite a while.

8/10

There's a saying I heard a long time ago... "The person that's got everything has nothing" and this movie kind of explains one way of looking at it (in my opinion).

In a materialistic influenced world we live in it can be easy to fall into how believing happiness and wellbeing comes only from having all the things wealth can bring i.e. the clean cut minimalist house walking out onto the white sand overlooking a beautiful serene sea, a selection of gleaming new sports cars, the tailored clothes etc etc. But I guess for some people who have reached this place/goal in their life have focused on the goal so much that they've forgotten where they've come from and what they may have been running from.

Now what this gem of a movie does is carefully and meticulously unravel the story of a troubled man in this very situation, dealing with the daemons of his past, the spontaneous difficult decisions he had to make as a boy which has carved this stone cold embodiment of a man on the edge of existence.

Now I'm not going to break down and dissect this film and give a whole rundown on how and why I think this is a great movie but I will say this. The story of a nasty main character (amazing job from both Daniel Craig and Harry Eden) and showing the world that he lives in and lived in by slowly letting the viewer past his metaphorical protective wall while allowing the viewer to piece together how and why he is the way he is, is presented exquisitely.

I don't want to give anything away on the plot and story but I have to say there where two parts that absolutely blew me away and I'll just give you a vague hint. One involving a shot of artwork with intention of displaying a contrast of relation between the background and foreground giving an artistic viewpoint on the real subject matter (works on so many levels) and the other being a close up shot which encapsulated a lot of emotion and made my heart just drop.

all in all the whole production was done well, especially the editing (even though it's obviously apparent they had some great content to work with) and did, for me, what all great stories do, kept me entertained through demanding my full attention and rewarding that attention in the form of an emotional roller-coaster.

Last note: please try not to second guess while trying to predict what's coming next and how it ends. Just enjoy the story that is being told because it's been executed very well.

PS: I would have given this a 10 but wanted other readers to take this review seriously as I do love the art of storytelling, especially a good movie and it's unfortunate that there's too many marketing teams pushing up star ratings here on IMDb.

Thanks for reading my first review and I hope you enjoy "Flashbacks of a Fool" as much as I did.

Films of reflection are too few and often the result of climbing to a summit only to gaze back at the shadows never cast in the greedy race for the top ends i tragedy. FLASHBACKS OF A FOOL suggests, by its title, that the story may be different, that there may be some redemption at the core of an abusive life.

Writer/director Baillie Walsh sets his story in opening frames of intense sexual, drug accompanied debauchery. But as the credits fade, the lead character Joe Scott (Daniel Craig) faces a morning of hung over reality. A wealthy Hollywood star whose lifestyle has hastened his aging, Joe is 'managed' by the stern Ophelia (Eve) who is tiring of Joe's wasted lifestyle. Her warnings, as well as Joe's agent's confrontation that Joe is too old looking for a new screenplay, is compounded by a telephone call that Joe's boyhood friend Boots (Max Deacon) has suddenly died, leaving Joe's old first girlfriend Ruth (Claire Forlani) an early widow. Depressed and drunk Joe walks his beach and reflects on his youth. The 'flashback' tales us to Joe's teenage years (the young Joe is Harry Eden) with Boots as his closest friend and Ruth (Felicity Jones), the girl Joe craves. But hormones rule and Joe is an easy prey for his married next door neighbor: during one of their trysts a tragedy occurs that results in Joe's fleeing home for the 'successful' yet empty life he finds in Hollywood.

At the request of Joe's mother (Olivia Williams) he flies back to England where he is forced to confront the early damage he caused in the lives of his family and friends. Daniel Craig and Harry Eden are excellent in their mirrored roles of the young and the older Joe. In fact there is not a weak member of this fine British cast. Though the story takes place in England the film was shot in South Africa (cinematographer John Mathieson) and the rickety beach houses on the small bay where Boots and Joe spend their time is picturesque and adds the right sense of isolation to the story. At 114 minutes the film goes on a bit too long with areas for editing a bit too obvious. But the overall effect of FLASHBACKS OF A FOOL is a satisfying journey through a memory that holds a light to the incidents of youth that can alter too many lives if not mended. Grady Harp

How far do our decisions in life take us, and how long do we eventually live by the ripples that such choices create? Flashbacks of a Fool, the debut feature from writer and director Ballie Walsh, takes it upon itself to divulge in such questions, and the answers that it gives, although extremely simplified and a little underwhelming in scope, nevertheless pack a resounding and emotional punch. Taking its time to develop rounded characters that stay within the confines of real life whilst managing to retain a sense of compelling relevancy, the feature tells a story that most audiences should be able to take something from. Sure it sometimes moves at a snail's pace, and suffers from an extremely incoherent third act, yet despite the movie's biggest problems, it's the things that Walsh does right that makes Flashbacks such an enjoyable drama for anyone that likes to explore the darker sides of human desire.

A story with three distinct, crudely sewn together acts, Flashbacks of a Fool tells the story of a has-been actor, now spending most of his days drinking, doing drugs and paying women to sleep with him. Opening with current day Joe Scott (Daniel Craig) the movie introduces us to the waster in a very poignant and effective first act that details Joe's incessant need for indulgence at the expense of everyone around him. This in turn then sets up the real meat of the story, which in turn is set a good twenty or thirty years in the past, back in Joe's teenage years. Through this lens we observe Joe as he chooses the paths that eventually lead to the character we have so far been introduced to. Of course, we know instinctively where it's all going to go, and Walsh's script sometimes gets caught up in details involving this development, but in turn it is these details that give Flashbacks its heart and soul.

The details I'm referring to of course are little things called characters; Walsh makes sure to keep Flashbacks of a Fool rich in characterization, by using only a minimum ensemble. Through this the film manages to convey both the character of Joe and his decisions in an objective light; we see the decisions he makes, and the people that those decisions affect, most of the time without him realizing. Coming full circle with a scene that capitalizes on the real selfish nature of both his and another character's choices, the movie achieves its resonating moment of poignancy through a death that is built upon drawing tears. From here on in Flashbacks never quite reaches the same height, and the pacing and overall structure is bothersome, particularly during a mostly useless third act which staples itself to act two as a kind of conclusion that fails to offer much –if any- resolution.

Such is Flashbacks of a Fool's biggest problem; its framing and structure. Although each segment is finely told and expertly shot, the script always comes across as being informant, but incoherently so. As a result, the middle act never truly feels connected to the two that bookmark it, and obviously certain characterisation is null and negated as a consequence. The performances from Craig, and standout Harry Eden who plays Joe as a teenager, are solid enough, and play to the same grounding personality traits to offer a sense of progression from A to B, yet the script's slapped together and undeveloped feel often distracts away from these highlights. Nevertheless, with a wonderful ensemble cast mostly comprising of minor-star English talents, Flashbacks isn't just a powerful, and relevant story told with three dimensional characters; the cast themselves embody their personas effectively and with great consistency, at least until the third act. But then again, you can't blame them for getting confused with such a massive leap in narrative.

Perhaps one of the standout features of the film however lies in its aesthetic design. From the magnificent on-location settings to the retro costumes, cinematographer John Mathieson has the wonderful job here of capturing it all as best as he can, and that he does. Not only does he frame his wide-angle establishing shots with a serene sense of natural beauty, but there are also many instances of remarkable angles, lens effects and framings of much closer shots that embody similar moods; evoking both emotion towards the characters on screen, and at the same time capturing moments usually punctuated with a song from the nostalgic soundtrack with much needed simplicity. And yet, this is essentially what Flashbacks of a Fool comes down to; it's simplicity. Detailing the paths of a young man and how he came to be the wasted, indulgent has-been that he is, Flashbacks is a simple, but highly compelling and emotive tale about humanity, our desires, choices and companions that travel with us along the way. It may not be a smooth journey by any means, but it's got enough heart to make it a memorable and rewarding one.

• A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)

Although Flashbacks of a Fool is Daniel Craig's pet project – he's the film's executive producer as well as its star – it actually contains surprisingly little of the blonde hunk (though for the ladies out there, you do, admittedly, get to see his bum).

Craig plays Joe Scott, a movie star who has plenty of money and sexual satisfaction in his life, one which - when he is not indulging in coke-addled rumpy pumpy at least - is mostly spent looking out to the sea from his minimalist cliff-top pad.

Yet he has no real friends and seemingly no real future – "there's no role for you ANYWHERE," his agent tells Joe, a moment after he has seen his client throw his prized mobile phone out of a restaurant window.

As Joe begins to wonder what has happened to his life, we are taken back to his adolescent days of first love on the quiet English seaside, to discover what this Brit has in fact been trying to hide from with a life of debauchery and excess in LA.

Even a fan of this film should be able see why some might find it slow and slightly dull, as it does rely on the viewer sharing in a sense of glory in the mystical power of great records, the tragic romance of nostalgia and regret, and the theme of washed-up stardom.

Perhaps that provides limited scope for the film to garner a wide audience, but for those who can find true enjoyment from subtle portrayals of youth and humanity as much as from the more obvious merits of rapid plot progression that will matter little. The direction is superb, the script never feels rushed, and the wistful tone of someone looking back to their yesterdays to get on with their today is rare in its realisation of artistic vision.

There's no big finale, but that's not to say that the conclusion is anything less than perfect in its mood and its timing. A literate film that is there to relish on a quiet afternoon, Flashbacks of a Fool feels more typical of a book by Ian McEwan (though thankfully it bears little in common to the cinematic version of Atonement) than a film starring the current Bond. It could also have you listening to Roxy Music for the rest of your weekend, even if you've never before had the urge to sing along to Bryan Ferry in the bath - a pleasing added bonus.

There is nothing foolish about this film – watch it accordingly.