Chronic

Chronic. Tim Roth loses himself in his role - as does the character he plays - a palliative care nurse. The antithesis of the usual Hollywoodisation of terminal illness. Almost unbearable to watch yet, at times, strangely uplifting and beautiful and human. A career best performance by Roth. A film that I think will and indeed should stay with you. 9 out of ten

This film tells the story of a male nurse who takes care of terminally ill patients in their home. He is hard-working, diligent and competent in performing his duties, however his motives are questioned by the characters and by the viewers.

"Chronic" is slow and uneventful, to echo the theme of sadness and helplessness of the sufferers. In many instances he does what he thinks is best for the patients, sometimes leaning towards the unorthodox and sometimes even outright inappropriate. In addition, I at times dislike him because of the frequent white lies he tells, which brings doubts on whether he lies about other things as well.

Overall, "Chronic" is a slow drama, and it's not for everyone.

This is a very difficult film to watch for those who don't have any acquaintance at all with death and what it's like to lose a loved one to a terminal disease - However, it could prove to be cathartic to such a person and a way to really acquaint yourself with ALL that the people who care long term for our loved ones have to go through themselves while just simply "doing their daily job". David is a person who has lost someone incredibly important to him (his child) on his own and therefore is extremely well-acquainted with what a dying person suffers while going through that process. He thinks and truly considers each patient's perspectives and provides as much as he can possibly can to make them continue to still feel human (which is so incredibly humanistic and kind) -- even going to the point of providing what I can only presume was very "light" pornography for viewing by an adult male dying patient, and joking about how absolutely unwilling he would be to provide a hooker for the same man. Whoever?! said that we don't think about things that brought us pleasure in our healthier days when we are daily inching closer to the end of our time here on the planet? To go so far as to investigate as much as he can the same man's former life work just proves to me how much his patients mean to him. There are very few people who provide this type of care for the dying in the same kind of empathetic manner as David is able to do. Most folks just aren't built that way. They may be very good and efficient at their work, but it takes someone truly special to be able to connect in an the exemplary manner the way Tim Roth's character manages to make look easy. This is a perfect place to say to those out there who may have a loved one going through the true mental pain of leaving this earth to be brave and not forget to touch and care for your soon-to-depart loved one. Put lotion on them. Brush their hair. Show all the physical love that you can because they won't be here much longer for you to give it to them and thus make their transition easier for them and for YOU! Fabulous fare - the only film I can think of wherein a nurse is shown giving precisely the same kind of loving care to his terminal patient was with Jason Robards playing the patient in "Magnolia" with Phillip Seymour-Hoffman playing the nurse. That was honestly one of the best movies I've ever seen!

Chronic stars Tim Roth and its the story of a nurse that takes care of multiple patients. I really liked this film. The cinematography in this film is one of the best I have ever seen. The way the camera moves and the long and eerie takes throughout the film really gave this film more realism. The color grading is perfect as well. The performances are great and the characters are magnificent. The storytelling in this film is phenomenal. You can tell what will happen (sometimes) and it can be predictable, but its the way its executed that really makes this film special. The direction is top notch and there are a lot of ballsy decisions made in the ending that literally made my jaw drop. There are some problems though. The pacing is really slow and there are a lot of unnecessary scenes. I understand that the director is trying to set up a mood, but it really makes this film really long, even though its only 1 hour and 30 minutes. The structure is also troubling since the first part is a completely different movie than the second and third part. Overall, this is a depressing, bleak, gloomy, great film that really makes you feel weak when the credits roll. 8.5/10

Character driven masterpiece (Tim Roth as David, being an exceptionally detached, efficient and yet sensitive nurse) composed of different "episodes" cleverly puzzled together. The focus - as the title hints - is on chronic (and terminal) sickness but don't expect anything pointlessly dramatic or tear-jerking. Instead every story line seems an attempt to explore a broader (and ocean deep) set of topics:

What are really worth our typical human bonds and their cultural boundaries?

Do we really acknowledge our frailty before getting to "the point"?

Does our grown-ups busy daily life affect our ability to assess new scenarios?

How dangerous (and rewarding) can be thinking about (and adopting) a deeper perspective?

A very nice episode i.e. shows mercilessly how chronic illness is prone to destroying relationships. No matter how close you were to your beloved ones and how sorrowful they are; you are a different person with different priorities now: either they get it or they become less and less relevant for your existence. Someone who understands you and your needs becomes indeed a better companion than anyone else (ah love... oh family). And this is ofc hard to deal with for the previous "favourites".

Who can say he always gets what the authors meant to express? Or everything? Well, here we have many (but not too many) good examples of film sections where apparently nothing happens. What's the matter then? Within this "emptyness" there's David thinking, feeling and changing. Up to the dumb viewer to decide that this is irrelevant. We think we are better than that and we will use these sections to guess and feel ourselves what is happening.

But it's not all-in on the imagery: we have a solid script as well (best screenplay at Cannes); it's a pleasure noticing how lying is used (and it's annoying reading that a reviewer dislikes David because he is shady). Another review suggests that the film "Still life" (2013) is used as more than an inspiration while unaccredited but that is plainly wrong: "Still life" is Forrest-Gump-surreal and plot-driven while here we are on the opposite side; "Still life" deals with someone believing that dead people deserve care and love, while here David just feels like giving dignity to its fullest to the sick. Well, both films have workaholic main characters but the parallel solidity ends there in our opinion.

A possibly weak point is the color palette which is strangely overexposed and bland (not necessarily in a annoying sense): if this is not meant to be so as an expressive tool (which may well be for reasons I don't get) I'd note a lack of proper post-processing.

Not a happy movie but neither a sad one and most definitely not a "pornographic" one just because you see a penis, excrements and death (didn't people notice we don't see any blood? fortuitous or thought provoking?)... Anyways be ready to switch the brain on for this great work. It's a 9 but I'll go for a 10 given how clueless low-vote reviewers sound.