My Life So Far

I saw My Life So Far at a preview screening and loved it. It's a small, modest movie; don't go expecting "Saving Pvt Ryan." But for what it is it's wonderful--like escaping from a fetid city and diving into a clear cool lake.

It's one of those comedies of family life that both adults and (older) children can enjoy--the kind "they used to make." The ten-year-old narrator doesn't understand a lot of what he sees going on around him (mainly sex), but the audience does. Set in the Scottish highlands in the mid-thirties, it evokes the kind of idyllic life that vanished after the War--a large extended family living in a big ramshackle house on old family property with dogs, servants, neighbors and occasionally an unexpected visitor or two. There's not much story to the film; it's mainly about the rather eccentric characters who inhabit it, and the way they relate to each other.

The ensemble cast of British, French and American actors is perfect. Especially fine is Colin Firth, who plays the narrator's boyish, sexy and definitely oddball father. Every time I see this actor I marvel at how he manages to display so many conflicting emotions and thoughts while seeming never to move a muscle. And he's gorgeous to look upon, too. Rosemary Harris gives one of her typically fine performances as the boy's grandma, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio manages to do a great deal with rather little as the boy's mother. Malcolm McDowell is the wealthy uncle with the child bride (Irene Jacob) who is everything that Firth isn't. The tension between them is almost palpable and erupts into a fistfight before the film's end. My only reservation about the acting is with Robbie Norman as the kid; he is cute in a freckle-faced way but not very expressive (especially set beside Firth).

All in all, I give this film a 9. There's still something to be said for modesty, humor and charm. I wish there were more films like it.

I loved this period piece set in Scotland during the 40's. It is a coming of age story of Fraser Pettigrew.

Most of the story was told through Fraser's precocious eyes. Both he, and his father Edward, develop an infatuation with Malcolm McDowell's "exotic child bride"(Irene Jacobs). Fraser and his aunt share a sweet friendship;she turns him onto jazz, Louie Armstrong and the like.

His father Edward's (Colin Firth) love is unrequited and misplaced. He is a sympathetic character in the story until he develops this wandering eye. He is a hypocrite in that he wants to be pious and he wants & takes his sister-in-law and becomes the devil he warns Fraser of.

Edward Pettigrew's foolish fantasy is revealed at Gamma's funeral for all to see. His only redemption is the true love of Moira played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrianni, who forgives him for all his foibles.

It is rare to see a sweet and lovely movie but this is one ... a great way to spend the afternoon. A nice family story, although with really young kids you might have to explain some of the things "Wee Fraser" discovers up in his Grampa's attic. (Should you find your attention wandering and this not being your kind of movie, just fast-forward to the dinner scene and the very final scene: those two scenes should go down in movie history as the most adorable ever made!

(A Family Dinners will never be the same when you consider a little bit of knowledge gets a little out of hand --- and maybe dad does know best!)

"My Life So Far" is based on a true account of life in a Scottish family between WWI and WWII. It was filmed around Argyll, Scotland, and is certainly a beautiful movie to watch.

The story is told from a 10-year-old boy's point of view. His rather large family (8 or 10 children) live on the estate of his mother's mother. His dad is a bright man but is a somewhat impractical inventor. The single, rich uncle is threatening to evict them all when the matriarch dies.

The story unfolds nicely, the father comes to grips with some of his faults, relationships are examined. Music is well-integrated throughout the movie. It ends in a very satisfactory manner.

This basically "slice of life" movie holds your interest and is overall very entertaining. Not an earth-shaker, I give it a strong "7" of "10", meaning for me that it is better than 70% of the movies out there.

This is a delightful movie. It's based on a man's nostalgic look backward at a slice of his childhood spent on a Scottish country estate in the 1920s. Narrated by the author as a ten-year-old boy, it recounts a period in which both he and his capricious father learn some important lessons about themselves and about each other.

There is little plot to speak of--just life unfolding variously in its sweetness and pain, often tinged with a delicious whimsy. Be warned, though, that much as you may be disposed to like the father, he is a flawed man; his pathetic and childish attitudes are often painfully embarrassing to the viewer. Also, sexual references permeate this film, and there is a strong suggestion that youthful sexual curiosity ought to be given free reign. Parents with a contrary view might wish to give it a look before showing it to their children.

The cinematography is excellent, deftly making the most of the fine Scottish landscape.

But the music--ah! The music is wonderful, from the first folk-tinged strain, through Beethoven and Saint-Saëns, to the Louis Armstrong ending. Few films are so musically satisfying.

The role of the childish and inarticulate father, Edward Pettigrew, is nicely developed by Colin Firth. Rosemary Harris is his aristocratic, but good-natured mother-in-law, who actually owns the estate inhabited by her daughter and Edward and their progeny; Harris handles her part with great understanding and humour. The children are natural and believable, and the servants are well-picked and quirky--their kitchen conversations add much warmth to this work.

For me, the ending credits revealed a lovely surprise: that the reflections of the boy, Fraser Pettigrew, actually come from a memoir written by Sir Denis Forman. I know that name well; Forman is also the author of my favorite opera guide, a cleverly designed, but funny and irreverent book appropriately titled, "The Good Opera Guide." (But don't be put off by the U.S. title, "A Night at the Opera"; it's a wonderful book by any name.)

Small wonder, then, that this movie has such a fine soundtrack.

Rating: 8 for the movie, 10 for the opera book.