Third Star

"Third Star" was released in 2010 and, had it been a bigger film, would have won Benedict Cumberbatch an Oscar. Stardom for him was inevitable, however, as shortly afterward, he shot to stardom as "Sherlock" in the PBS series. Now he's everywhere. And he deserves to be.

Made on a small budget and directed by Hattie Dalton, "Third Star" is about James, a 29-year-old (Cumberbatch) dying of rhabdomyosarcoma, a horrible cancer that attacks the muscles. He has very little time left and is dependent upon painkillers. He wants to go to his favorite place, Barafundle Bay in West Wales. So his three best friends Davy, Miles, and Bill (Tom Burke, J.J. Field, and Adam Robertson) take him, even though it's not a good idea. James is weak and has trouble walking due to the disease in one of his legs. The guys push him in a cart that also contains their luggage for the trip.

En route, we learn about them. Davy has been taking care of James since he became ill; Miles is a writer turned businessman, whose father was a successful novelist. Miles, once a very close friend of James', hasn't been in touch for a while, and we learn that he's written a book he hasn't shown anyone. Bill is living with a woman who is not the love of his life, but he can't seem to break up with her.

These guys fight, have outbursts of anger, tell each other off, laugh, and joke, each dealing with James' illness in his own way. And James deals with life and impending death in his own way. "I don't want to die. I want more time," he says, and tells his friends off for being "safe." "Life isn't about the hand you're dealt, but the hand you feel safe playing." Some tough confessions emerge. ("Your illness disgusts me.") but eventually James asks them for a final favor.

"Third Star" is beautifully acted, but the first 45 minutes or so are slow and a disorganized, if that's the right world -- by disorganized, I mean there's a lot of the guys fooling around and trading barbs, and it becomes a bit much.

Cumberbatch gives a breathtaking, heartfelt, devastating performance, but everyone is excellent. The very handsome J.J. Fields is a standout as well -- his role is a little larger than that of the other two friends, and there's an excellent cameo by Hugh Bonneville.

Stick with it, and you'll be inspired and uplifted. Caution: You'll want a large box of tissues nearby.

Four friends, one of whom (James) is terminally ill, go off on a last trip to James's favourite place, Barafundle Bay in Wales. The plot therefore is simplicity itself and the film captures this simple idea and makes it shine. One reviewer described the first half as 'tedium', in my opinion nothing could be further from the truth. While the dialogue may seem trivial at times, it is exactly the kind of exchange one would expect of four friends under these circumstances. Light-hearted banter, foolishness and fun offset the looming tragedy, sorrow and pain. Very rarely have I seen a film that from the first frame just felt real. This one does. No over-elaborate flashbacks to explain a backstory that isn't really needed, the actors manage to establish the friendship just through their interactions, chemistry and dialogue. The performances are excellent, especially Benedict Cumberbatch as James is truly remarkable. Four male friends on a last adventure. Fun, revelations, regrets, redemption, grief and the subtle realism of it all. Definitely worth watching!

How often do we get to watch a movie and laugh in one minute, cry in the other? When emotions run so deep that we smile through our tears and tear up when laughing at a joke... This is what this movie did to me. Kudos to the cast for a brilliant performance, each in their own role, and to the director to provide a wonderful audio-visual background to the beauty that lies in the friendships of these four young men.

After seeing it, we ask ourselves: would we be able to do what Davy did? Could we be this strong and brave? Maybe if we love someone that much. Maybe.

Another question is: how would we deal with a serious illness? How CAN we? The alternative is wait until it vanquishes us and steals everything from us that we used to be, that used to make us what we are, or... or take the upper hand and go out screaming. Choose how we want to end it. Choose to miss many important events and great moments... because we want to feel capable... just once again. James poses this question and we are left wondering up until the end which alternative he chooses.

I strongly, highly recommend this film to everyone who loves genuine human emotions portrayed without sentimentalism, who thinks that friendship is not over-rated and that there can be times when friends are all that's left to rely on. Because in friendship, we have a choice.

I am not at the point this film displays, but I am 21 and face a tumour almost touching my brain. I'm nowhere near suicide tho so no worries there. This film felt obnoxiously real tho. I watched this because of Cumberpatch's performance as Holmes. An incredibly gripping film, I hated watching, until I watched the end. All actors played their role to perfection. The realities of facing the challenges that come up in life are so well portrayed. Messy situations lead to making a decision based on what we think is right now. All this leads up to the modern collapse of all morality. No one knows what is right and what is wrong anymore. Everything is right. Nothing is wrong.

Not so long ago I saw another British children's movie called 'Ways to live forever', what I was gonna say is this movie was kinda same but belongs to adult men. I have read somewhere online that a British newspaper quoted about it 'Facing death like men: with beer, jokes and a holiday', yes it was the movie will give you joyful time you spend for it simultaneously will break the heart. A true friendship movie which had an adventurous quest, the characters reveal their true nature while they all different from each other but one gang. When they came to know each other what happen between their long term relationship is lay on the question mark.

The story follows when four friends take a camping trip to a coastal region called Barafundle Bay. While the journey bit by bit everything starts to reveal behind their trip which includes love, friendship and sometime pain. What comes at the twilight of the story was the emotional tale. The places where the movie takes were breathtaking and stunningly captured on camera.

The screenplay was well written, the movie kick starts slowly without much development to what's going on, then constantly picks up the pace towards its destined. Phase by phase it often delivers some laughing out loud comedies to not to fall on boredom side.

Couple of mysterious characters enters into the story, one was a winged boy like an angel and another one was a man on his quest to expose what he heard from someone who lost it. These two makes temptation on quick turn and twist to the story which was already in constant flow. It all brings the surreal to keep things moving and make audience to keep guessing on what's coming next. Believe me you don't wanna miss this movie, I know it was not a masterpiece but a pleasant surprising tale about four guys.