Second Coming

I am a big fan of the Film Movement series and my wife is a huge fan of Idris Elba so we both had great expectations for this movie. Unfortunately it became clear early on that the outline of the plot lacked development. It was shallow and the lead actress,Nadine Marshall failed to add depth to what was obviously meant to be a complex character study.

The movie opened and failed to develop many sub-plot lines which involved potential martial issues as well as mental state of mind. This is a very shallow and disappointing movie.

A word about Film Movement, I do not understand their reluctance to add sub-titles to movies with difficult accents such as the combined West Indian cockney used by the main characters. We don't think that would change our opinion of this movie but we missed 50 percent of the words.

I found this film quite unique and it describes a situation that isn't as uncommon as you'd think. It takes place in North London, an afro caribbean family consisting of a railway engineer(Idris Elba), a benefits office worker, and their son, a thoughtful little boy who loves nature. You are treated to the usual banter between husband and wife, happy Sunday lunches with grandparents, scenes at the boy's classroom, all very normal and familiar.

In the midst of this cosiness we have the wife wrestling with a dilemma - it's all very subtle and you have to keep guessing what it is, because a lot of the conversation between her and her best friend is conducted in half sentences, much of it unsaid, it was perplexing, but it all added to the mystery of the film. You are left guessing until the very end. All very beautifully acted.

The only bum note was Nicola Walker ( normally one of my top 5 actresses) playing a psychotherapist and doing such a rotten job of it. Inexcusable, maybe she hadn't had much acting experience when this film was made.

Lols at the last scene taking us all the way back to the title!

I am angry with myself for watching this pointless movie. I had been listening to the BBC critic, Mark Kermode, interviewing the director of the movie and I was unimpressed with her refusal to divulge much about the movie but he was so full of praise and repeatedly asked her questions which he had asked before and got no answers. He praised the movie so much that I thought I should watch it because it was, at any rate, supposed to be a Christmas movie according to the critic who kept confusing the virgin birth with the birth of Mary without the stain of original sin, the Immaculate Conception. He must have had in mind a miraculous conception. This should have alerted me that the praise was coming from someone who did not know what he was talking about.

Well, I kept waiting for something to happen but the only action was a trip to the hospital and some fisticuffs in the school playground. Part of me was saying, "Turn it off!" and at the same time I was hearing, "The BBC thinks this is brilliant. Wait." What a dope I was. All the actors did was eat and mumble unintelligible text in broken sentences. I thought maybe I need my hearing examined. But No; I need my head examined for wasting so much time watching, Second Coming.

I found this film beautiful. The slow pace, the fragmented conversations, the authentic accents, all worked to bring you into the world of this family and their everyday experience. At times it was raw and painful, at others it was touching and sweet. The story is told as if the viewer is getting a peek into their world, not as an over-dramatic or glamorised performance that explains every movement. If you prefer all your films to spell things out for you so you don't have to think or have the same americanised english accent, then maybe it's not the one for you. Anyone willing to be open to something else, then I'd recommend.

Do not be deceived by the trailer, this is not the film you think you are about to watch. It's worse. Much, much worse.

Although aesthetically pleasing and possibly a good idea on paper, this film is a waste of the great talent of all cast members involved. It had the potential to be a moving, emotional, thought provoking experience but was let down by the painfully slow pace and depressingly poor resolution to any of the subplots. Leaving the ending open to interpretation was not thought provoking, but rather frustrating and disappointing to a confused audience that have been invested in the characters personal lives for an hour and forty five minutes. Calling the film a let down would be an understatement.