Stuart: une vie à l'envers

Here's an warming real life story transformed into a lovely TV film. It all starts when writer Alexander Masters (Benedict Cumberbatch) having plenty of available time on his hands decided to write the story of a homeless man he met while coordinating an campaign to release from prison the directors of a project that helps homeless people. The man in question is Stuart Shorter (Tom Hardy), an troubled and angered young man who has been arrested several different times, who suffers from a muscular dystrophy and lots of other problems as well but who happens to impress Alexander in a unusual way with some smartness, his humor and a great sense of friendship. And it is Stuart that gives Alexander the idea of writing his story in backwards. "Make it involving, do it like Tom Clancy. What murdered the little boy I was?" he says. And here begins the journey of finding who Stuart was and why he is the way he is now.

David Attwood directs "Stuart: A Life Backwards" with grace and wisdom, working with a depressive subject without sentimentalism and using of plenty of humor, some comic reliefs and a great deal of imagination throughout little animated segments (everytime Masters thinks of Stuart's ideas or picturing moments of his life). What separates this movie from many similar made by Hollywood is the honest portrayal of the main figure, without providing easy answers on why Stuart end up the way he ended. Just like the writer we keep putting the pieces together to form one and definitive Stuart, the man, but even with all the puzzle formed there's the sensation of looking at a distance and still we wouldn't comprehend the image quite right. A simple man, a tragic figure yet so intriguing, so interesting to follow. That's what captivated Alexander and that's what captivates us viewers.

And if the man with all his simplicity and his uniqueness in seeing the world is that fascinating on us is because the actor portraying him is all that as well. Well known for his action roles in pictures like "Rock N'Rolla" and "Inception" the great Tom Hardy gives his most impressive performance so far. Wheter angry, fragile, sick, eternally confused or just sharing a crazy thought, he makes all those feelings and reactions wonderfully. The mannerisms, the ticks, his slurred voice, a real character not an acting show, a perfect embodiment. And Mr. Cumberbacth doesn't get behind, he's very good and together they form a great team (as proved again in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", even though there they a little bit opposite from each other).

"Stuart: A Life Backwards" is a good example of a film that doesn't need much to satisfy its viewers. You can watch over and over again, see new things on each view and see some positive and inspiring things. I highly recommend it. 9/10

"My name is Psycho but you can call me Stuart if you want."

Before his breakout role in Bronson, Tom Hardy showed his true potential in a small made for TV film, Stuart A Life Backwards. He co-stared along another relatively unknown at the time, Benedict Cumberbatch (at least outside of Great Britain). These are two huge A-list actors today who have starred as villains in blockbusters like Star Trek Into Darkness and The Dark Knight Rises among many other great films. So I was immediately attracted to this film when I heard it starred these two actors. It is a biography of a troubled alcoholic and homeless man named Stuart(Tom Hardy) who establishes a friendship with a writer and charity worker named Alexander (Benedict Cumberbatch). We've seen these dramatic films exploring similar issues of unlikely friendships done before, but Stuart gives it a unique twist by telling the story beginning from the back. Because lets face it when we first meet someone like Stuart we are shocked at their current condition and we take little time to try to figure out what may have caused this strange behavior. We see who the person is at the present and by establishing a relationship we slowly begin to uncover things about their past, and that is exactly how Alexander presents Stuart to the audience. Stuart is a rather unconventional character, and Tom Hardy plays him brilliantly. He is an alcoholic who suffers from violent outbreaks. He also has suicide tendencies and suffers from muscular dystrophy which has taken its toll on him. But most of the time Stuart is a kind man with a dry sense of humor. He tells his story in a rather funny way adding a tragicomic touch to this film. Despite the strong performances from Cumberbatch and Hardy the film works mostly because of the way the film is narrated. As we learn more about Stuarts past we begin to sympathize with him and realize where he is coming from. It isn't a great film, but it is solid and it showed the true potential these lead actors had.

The film does feel a bit rushed at times and it suffers from trying to add a lot of information in only 90 minutes, making some scenes feel chopped and forced. Director David Attwood benefits mostly from this emotional true story and these two actors, who happened to be the main attraction for me and the reason why this film is getting some distribution currently on HBO. It isn't a perfect film, but it has a masterful physical performance delivered by Hardy who was just getting warmed up for his upcoming and breakout role in Bronson. I really loved the quirky approach the film took in telling this true story (which was actually based on the successful biography written by Alexander Masters), but it's far from being a perfect and memorable film. The animated scenes that Attwood decided to introduce to tell some parts of the story were a bit disturbing and took me out of the movie at times. But every time I was let down by these scenes, Tom Hardy showed up with another impressive scene and brought me right back in. It is a masterful performance and one that shows his unique talent as an actor. I am also thankful I watched this film with subtitles because sometimes it was difficult to understand what he was mumbling about, but it was still great voice work from his part. Cumberbatch played a more restricted character, but he also has some emotional scenes near the end where he proves he's a talented actor. It is a film worth checking out if you are a fan of these actors.

This film is outstanding. Hardy has done a fantastic portrayal of stuart. This i know as my husband knew stuart shorter. The film is funny in places and warm hearted, but also very hard hitting. It made me cry because of how sad stuart was towards the end of his life. An alcohol drug addicted man who didn't see any real way out of his lifestyle. "convict curry" makes me laugh each time i watch it. I've lost count of how many times i have watched this film. I also have the book which is also a must have. This shows how two people from very very different backgrounds can become a huge part of each others life. And just how dark and sad somebody can become because of awful events in their life. Overall i love this film and if ever i did have the pleasure to meet mr tom hardy i would shake his hand and thank him for his superb work.

Had this film been a big studio production Tom Hardy would have gained his first Oscar

A wonderful story told in a superb manner. WHY WHY hasn't this movie gone beyond UK. Unfortunately i have to say I saw this story on Youtube during my search of Tom Hardy movies after watching Warrior. I was completely mesmerized by the acting in this movie by both leading actors. Tom brought his soul into his character and I felt I knew what his Stuart was thinking just by his expressions etc. Tom Hardy is definitely someone to look out for, not for anything but his true ability to 'act'. I only wish I had the opportunity to see him on stage one day. This story is a must for all to see, see the story about faces of the people you walk past in the streets each day, the people that you ignore and forget about it. I highly recommend you take the time to watch it.