Framed

If not for the inclusion of some delightful Welsh accented actors (apart from sone of the annoyingly cocky child actors), and the lovely scenery, this really contrived movie is almost like an old Pink Panther show. The wasted talent here is a shame, as is the mundane dialogue. The most annoying but for me was the constant overwhelming use of very inappropriate background music, which at times was almost cartoon-like. A very amateurish production that does not favours to Wales, art or the people who are being portrayed here. The characters are fairly one-dimensional and Trevor Eve is just not a good fit here at all. A disappointing film and only watch if you have time to waste or are sick in bed.

Trevor Eve plays an uptight National Gallery curator. A leak in the Gallery has led to flooding and the valuable paintings have been sent to a disused slate mine in North Wales. It was something envisaged by Churchill during the war.

The arrival of the art world in the sleepy village of Manod gets the villagers to develop an interest in the art, Trevor Eve develops an interest with the local schoolteacher (Eve Myles) and a struggling petrol station finds new opportunities to stay afloat.

The drama is an adaptation of the book from Frank Cottrell Boyce, however a charming story does not translate well on screen. The villagers have too much of the yokel in them and Trevor Eve looks frankly too old to be melting for the charms of the much younger looking Myles.

This BBC production, shown in the US on Masterpiece Contemporary, stars Trevor Eve (Waking the Dead, among many other fine productions) as Quentin Lester, a senior curator from the National Gallery in London, is given the task of storing the art masterpieces somewhere during repairs on the leaky plumbing at the Gallery which threatened to damage them.

The artworks are taken to a mining cave in Wales where they had been previously stored during WWII for safe keeping until they could be returned one by one to the Gallery. There Lester meets a community of colorful characters along with a young boy whom he believes shares his interest in art. Their teacher, played so charmingly by Eva Myles, introduces herself into his life and eventually Lester becomes an integral part of the community during his stay there.

The movie is full of mishaps and adventures, many of which involve a family who are experiencing some financial difficulties. The children in the family rally around their mother trying to find a way to help the family out during their father's absence resulting in some of the most memorable scenes.

The scenery alone is an artwork unto itself with beautiful vistas frame the village and it's town folk. It is heartwarming how everyone comes alive with the arrival of the art and a lonely, solitary man finds his true self along with them.

The acting here is superb with standout performances by Eve, Myles and especially the young children. Don't miss the elderly sisters played by Margaret John and Gwyneth Petty; they are adorable.

This little movie is fantastical and lovable, reminiscent of movies like "Waking Ned Devine" or "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain". Enjoy this gem for the treat it is.

Must say I agree with the "bingedrinking..." user name comment. This was an awful film, totally racist and insulting to Wales and the Welsh people. It made the Welsh out to be a bunch of bumbling village idiots from the get go, akin to that "The League of Gentleman" show on the BBC. The horrible comment right at the beginning of the film about the Welsh tourist board laughing when the secretary called up to ask for a 3 star hotel was disgraceful. It was essentially saying "a 3 star in Wales, you must be joking!". The producer also gave the school teacher a deliberate overbite and large gap right in her front teeth, how cruel and crude. Most of the children were also given large gaps in their front teeth also. It was shameful. It was also set in North Wales, yet no one, and just to be clear, NO ONE, had a North Welsh accent, they were ALL from South Wales. Was the producer and researchers who made this film being deliberately derogatory to Wales or were they just ignorant and absolutely thick? I watched this joke of a film for a short time before switching it off in disgust. I was abroad in the US and was hoping to see something of North Wales in all it's true glory and absolute splendor. North Wales is absolutely stunning, the people extremely friendly and highly educated. Wales also outperformed the rest of the UK in terms of exports last year (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-26465497). Yet this horrendous film would just try to belittle Wales and the Welsh. I will be writing to the producer of this film for an explanation.

I can't believe we're still making programmes depicting Welsh people as bumbling village idiots in 2009.

Stuff your PC rubbish, this is racism, pure and simple.

Also, why did every single person have a South Walian accent when it was set in North Wales? They'd never make a programme set in Liverpool and cast a bunch of Cockneys to play native born Scousers.

Do your research.

In fact, if you're going to make a programme this offensive and inaccurate, just don't bother.

It wasn't any good anyway.