The Way You Look Tonight

When I saw the one very low rating and a bunch of 9 and 10 ratings I got worried that this film was going to be a dud, hyped by crew and friends, but I'm glad I made the effort to check it out.

The pluses are this is a very strong concept well thought out and executed. The writer director hasn't shy'd away from some uncomfortable repercussions of the premise which is essentially saying people are who they are on the inside regardless of what they look like on the outside, and it definitely tests that hypothesis. It is a little bit 'woke' in it's presentation of that and doesn't really acknowledge concepts of physical attraction.

I thought the acting was really good, very natural and did pretty well to convey the one person many faces thing. I really liked the world building aspects, ie the big out, the local bar that specialises, the help group and their meeting, etc and the central character managing to miss all of it. The things it didn't quite manage to deliver was selling the core attraction of the 2 main characters, the why they should bother with each other angle, and any explanation of the why this is all happening, although I think that perhaps that was a wise move in that there isn't a scientific point to be made on the mechanism, more a point to be made from the mcguffin of the set up.

As much as I support the perspective on gender fluidity and inherent nature of us all on the inside that's not the world we live in, and it would have been cool to have seen so acknowledgement of the traits of physical attraction and sexual orientation, beyond the 2 guys get it on scene. How does our changeling character who has said she is female and identifies as female feel about being changed against her will to Male, and does she sympathise with our central characters difficulty in deal with this?

Questions to be answered at another time I guess, but for what it is this movie is not a 1 star piece of junk made by amateurs, it is a thought provoking and interesting concept, acted and shot well, and doesn't shy away from the deeper and possibly more uncomfortable aspects of it's premise.

This film is on the verge of being fantastic, but it never quite gets there.

It's not because of the cast, Why Nick Finck isn't a huge star is beyond me, he is amazing on camera and just feels like a natural. Overall, every cast member is stellar.

The film takes a little too long to get going, the first 30 minutes seem to drag. Then the story is revealed and the film gets interesting. The slow start is made even weirder by the ending, which seems quite abrupt and provides little closure to the story arc. With a bit more budget and some better writing, this would have been a 10/10 film. As it is, it is still very much with a watch.

The idea is interesting, and the first 30 minutes or so are intriguing as you start to understand what's happening. But then the movie veers off into "A Very Special Episode" territory, laying on the morality and social criticism one trowel-full after another.

Maybe this sort of extremely obvious analogizing works with the 20-something crowd, but I'm old enough that I'd prefer some subtlety or, hell, even better, how about keep the interesting parts of the story and try to make a movie that isn't lazy social awareness?

I nearly gave up on this film in the first half hour, but lead actor Nick Fink kept me interested. For a newcomer, he has immense chemistry with the camera and believable delivery.

The script is flawed in that it has natural humor, but has a sitcom smirk. The two go together like honey and motor oil. All of the bones are here for a spectacular TV series, if handled mindfully and steered away from gags.

The parallels with people in so many life situations who do not conform to expectations is right there. Examine the human experience in those varying situations and the scripts write themselves.

This was a valiant effort and there are some promising talents in the extensive cast.

Production note: this is a film where photos with the names in the end credits seem crucial.

It's not perfect: The script is a bit weak and there are dull moments but something made me stick around. I think it was mostly the lead and some of the other supporting actors who were impressive even for relatively unknown actors. I also really appreciated how the writer approached the concept. I was a bit weary that it was going to be an interesting idea fleshed out in an uninteresting way but it was interesting.