Save the Cinema

We really enjoyed this movie based on a true story saving a cinema in Wales from being pulled down. A real feel good movie and an easy watch with friends. Just the sort of film that you need to escape to after such a disappointing year with this virus.

SAVE THE CINEMA is based on a real-life event but the film is not very well made.

A small town in Wales has a downtown theater that was originally a live theater then converted to a cinema in 1935. It's a mostly empty building but for some local stage performances. A dastardly mayor is working behind closed doors with a developer to demolish the theater block and created a mall-type thing (it's 1993). The mayor sneaks it thru an open town meeting, figuring no one will care and blabs about a revitalized downtown, jobs (the usual spiel). But the director of the live theater group fights back to save the cinema.

Samantha Morton plays the gallant lady, Jonathan Pryce plays the old fogy movie fan. Main problem is that the mayor is depicted as a cartoon character. The scenes of the amateur plays are way too long and the actual story is overly simplified, including the phone call from Stephen Spielberg with the OK to show JURASSIC PARK to make money.

Best part of the film is their obtaining a 35 mm print of HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY from a local movie fan (he's had it for 50 years) and the local Welsh audience being in awe of the story. But apparently no one in the town has ever seen a VHS movie or seen an old movie on TV. They gape at it like it was a dinosaur bone. The character Morton plays never even heard of the film or of GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS. Small-town life according to the movies. Everyone is a dope.

And of course the 50-year old 35mm nitrate film has no decomposition even though it's been stored in a closet (highly unlikely) and the Liz character has been working in the theater for decades but never knew there was a projection room? And the projectors, unused for decades, are all ready to go and need no cleaning or repairs? Things seem remarkably well preserved in Wales.

Unfortunately the story and the basic facts have been simplified to the point point of stupidity.

With an excellent central performance of Samantha Morton, Save the Cinema will have you laughing out loud one minute and wiping a tear away a moment later. Morton plays 'Liz the Lyric' beautifully, and although she makes the part her own, it is obvious that Morton and the production team have had access to archive documentary footage with snippets of real life dialogue faithfully and skillfully re-enacted.

A stellar supporting cast (a who's who of Welsh talent) topped by Tom Felton as a town councillor and Johnathon Pryce as her inspirational retired school teacher are swept up in Liz's quest to save the condemned cinema of the title.

The fictional elements woven into the historical facts pluck at the heartstrings, particularly with Pryce's reminiscences of watching Goodnight Mr Chips, which led him to becoming a teacher. The film is a wonderful testament to the efforts of a women and the legions of helpers and children she inspired.

The accompanying documentary Save the Cinema: Behind the Curtain on SKY is a recommended watch, presented by two of Liz's real life sons, Mark and Wynne (of Go Compare infamy!)

A nice gentle film with a very strong cast telling the old story of a lone voice inspiring others to action.

Based on fact and set in Carmarthen it shows the proud inhabitants standing up for something they really believe in.

I enjoyed it very much.

This new Sky Movies offering, "Save the Cinema", is short on finesse but strong on Welsh charm. It's also based on a true story that I only fully dredged from the deep recesses of my brain as the film was running.

Positives:

• Notwithstanding my reservations about this one (as below), this was a heart-warming tale of Welsh grit and determination. It really has a lot in common with last year's "Dream Horse" in this regard. It's also (bizarrely) based on a true story.

• Note: I have deliberately NOT described the "bizarre" aspect of the story here, since I hadn't had that spoiled and it made the film far better for me. Although the facts hovered on the edge of my memory, I only progressively recalled them as the film went on!

• Aside from the leads, a wide array of Welsh acting talent is given the chance to perform including comedian Rhod Gilbert, Owain Yeoman, Owen Teale and the very attractive Erin Richards, as the mayor's assistant and love interest Susan. It also pins its Britishness to its sleeve (probably making it a tough sell outside the UK) by featuring Wynne Evans, the "Go Compare" man. It emerges that he has a genuinely interesting link to the film.

• It's also great to see Tom Felton on the big screen and NOT playing a villain for once! After roles as Draco Malfoy and the zookeeper in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (a brilliant and under-rated performance in my book) I thought he might end up as the dodgy property developer. But no!

Negatives:

• I thought the script was really pretty ropey:
• - The film clunks along with many lines that you really wouldn't imagine anyone saying in reality. At times Liz muses to herself out-loud as a device to move the plot along, when a "show-don't-tell" approach would have been perfectly sufficient.

-- There's a conflict injected between Liz and her husband David that seems false and purely added for dramatic effect.

-- At times the film overly signposts where its heading, killing any sort of suspense in the story (a 'goodnight' scene with Jonathan Pryce being a prime example).

Summary Thoughts on "Save The Cinema": This movie was clunking along, in my opinion, at around the 5/10 level for most of its running time. As Douglas Adams would have put it, it was "mostly harmless". Its ace-in-the-hole was the bizarre historical event that comprises the finale of the movie: an event that caused something irritating to get in my eye and an unexplained lump develop in my throat. For this reason alone, I added on the extra point.

"Save the Cinema" is available on Sky / NowTV Cinema (at least, it is in the UK)

(For the full graphical review, please check out #onemannsmovies online. Thanks).