Perfect Strangers

I caught this movie on a re-run on BBC America. It was late at night. the movie caught me unawares and drew me in to its web like a spider might. I spent the next several hours amazed at the tenderness of the story, the sadness of the characters and he sheer thrill of discovery just over the threshold. If only American TV could be so good. Ever so often you discover a jewel, Perfect Strangers (Almost Strangers in America on BBC America) is one of those jewels. It has a strong central character, plenty of supporting characters and people you find yourself rooting for. Secretly, we all have family members like these. A familiar face on a new wardrobe. Watch the movie. You will not forget it.

I would just like to take this moment to withdraw an earlier comment I have made, Stephen Poliakoff is not the second greatest person working on T.V, he is THE greatest person ever to work on T.V and Perfect strangers is his masterpiece. Developing themes explored in his earlier work Shooting the Past, Perfect Strangers captures the magic and wonder surrounding such things as war stories, mysterious photographs, and dark secrets and hidden stories from family trees. But it's the way he tells these stories, using instantly likeable characters and beautifully worded passages to create a tale, which anyone with a childhood will instantly recognise and relate to. Although the programme is only a third the way through, the final part comes next Thursday, I feel it's safe to say that Poliakoff has created an everlasting programme which will be rediscovered and repeated for years to come. Perfect Strangers deserves to win all the BAFTAs and Media awards it will surely be nominated for.

I was totally enthralled. I thought this was one of the best things I have seen on Television. I still think about it several years later and will certainly get a copy to keep in my collection to watch again. But not too often - I don't want to spoil a good thing by over familiarity. Since I first saw Perfect Strangers I have sought out everything Stephen Poliakoff has written. I have not been disappointed with the quality of his other plays and television writing. He is simply brilliant. In the Perfect Stranger the cast was Perfect with the mood evocative of an earlier gentler more refined age. Understated, sad, interesting nostalgia but never overly sentimental nor cloying. The sort of thing which British television is so good at. It would be unfair to pick out any particular aspect for praise as it was all so good. Having said that however I must mention Claire Skinner. I don't know why she has not become an A list Superstar. Maybe that is her own choice, but I would rather go and see her in anything she does rather than see any of the other so-called superstars. Maybe she is just famous on British television but if so Amercian television and Hollywood have certainly missed the boat by not grabbing her.

Perfect Strangers was first aired in May 2001. I was in the midst of my final year degree exams. The first part was shown the night before one of my exams and I recorded it to watch another time so that I could do revision. About 20 minutes into the programme, I took a break from revision and decided to watch the programme for a short time. Perfect Strangers was so captivating that I didn't return to my revision until the programme finished!

Perfect Strangers has a wonderful music score by Adrian Johnston. I was thrilled to find that the following year, a CD of the score had been released. (It includes Adrian Johnston's score from Shooting The Past, an earlier drama also by Stephen Poliakoff and starring Lindsay Duncan and Timothy Spall.)

So, are you ready to meet the family?

I never cease to be amazed at what one finds in the local library in a small town in Florida. During a wet few days, due to a stalled hurricane, I borrowed a DVD with Timothy Spall's name on the box expecting it to be a two hour movie. Was I ever surprised! This was one of the most riveting stories I have ever seen, and I watched the entire saga in one sitting.

As the extended family gathered for a all-expenses paid reunion at a London hotel, the characters meet other relatives whom they had either not known about or had little contact with. The family had once been wealthy and successful, but as subsequent generations branched off, some had fallen on hard times. They begin to discover their similarities. Michael Gambon was superb as the black sheep son who had lost the business his father had built up when he ventured out on his own. When he has to stay at his cousin Ernest's London flat to recuperate after a collapse, he finds that his cousin shares his taste in British war movies starring Jack Hawkins.

Matthew McFaddeyn played the son who had no idea that he was related to a wealthy family. Upon meeting them he is taken with the kind of wealthy upper middle class life he could have had.

Timothy Spall played the more than slightly disreputable cousin into various questionable ventures with the oily charm of a junk car dealer from the wrong side of town. He sees the reunion as a business networking opportunity.

The three eccentric old aunts played by veteran British actresses of the 40's and 50's, at least one of whom starred in a Jack Hawkins film. Anton Lesser was the historian who uncovered many of the family secrets and lies which affect future generations and some of which are a repeated trait.

The performances are brilliant. My only reason for not rating this film a 10 is that the back stories somehow seem to interrupt the flow of the present day story. I realize that the stories of the past are essential to the narrative, yet they seemed out of place.

I will definitely be viewing this for a second time.