Wild Honey Pie!

I am so glad I didn't read the reviews of this before I watched it. Any score below 5/6 is written in ignorance. This is just a compelling watch of love and relationships that can really only be appreciated if you ve experienced coastal wales. Fly on the wall acting. Limited props and no Hollywood style is the pleasure of this movie. Watch and enjoy.

Gillian (Jemima Kirke) and Oliver (Richard Elis) are a couple in their 30s live on the Welsh coast and are the best of friends, if only sex didn't get in the way causing both of them to stray.

A low budget indie drama that had potential that it fails to fulfill. Both the film and its characters seem very self indulgent to the point that the film outstays its welcome. Alice Lowe is one of the few bright parts of the film though who plays Gillian's fling.

I don't believe it!

Well, I can believe that these are actors, but I can't believe any of the characters. Gillian as a budding playwright? Oliver as a party DJ? No, I'm not buying it.

Rachel on the phone to Gerald: "Hi Gerald, it's Rachel. [...] Dick's daughter. Dick. Dick. Yes his daughter."

Yes, that's the sort of dialogue that makes this a "comedy".

(EDITED to correct "Rachel" to "Gillian" in the 2nd paragraph.)

Wild Honey Pie does something few movies are able to: capture the authenticity of a relationship so saliently that you feel like you are there, not missing a moment of authenticity, and still maintain a fast-paced, interesting narrative.

You get to know these characters - they feel like real people - but not a moment of story is lost. Laugh out loud funny without trying too hard to be, heart wrenching and very, very real - it's a must see.

It's an unfortunate fact for film-makers that improvising dialogue doesn't make things seem more real; it actually only makes you more aware that the actors are acting, and at the same time makes it more difficult for a film to keep a sense of direction. This largely feels like a series of improv sketches, some obviously meant to be funny; but I don't think you can have a comedy in English based around infidelity, it just feels too sad. The French could maybe manage it, they're more cynical about these things.

So it's not great by any means but it deserves a *little* better than the average mark here if only for the sharp performances and - for a British film - lack of hand-wringing.