Director: Virginia Gilbert.
Starring: James Fox, Natalie Dormer, Brenda Fricker, Paul Nicholls.
Running Time: 85 minutes.
Certificate: 12A.
Synopsis: Retired couple Joseph (James Fox) and Brenda (Brenda Fricker) live their lives in the sun after relocating to the south of France. Bored with the lack of mental stimulation, Joseph threatens to ruin his marriage after meeting young couple Suzanne (Natalie Dormer) and Mark (Paul Nicholls).
Opening to the apparent contented silence of husband and wife Joseph and Brenda, we soon become aware that she is far more contented with her crossword puzzles and French lessons than her husband. Bored with the familiarity of their daily routine, Joseph aimlessly walks the streets, often lying to his wife about where he is going.
Frequenting the same restaurant most evenings of the week, Brenda has an amusing repartee with the owner that her husband finds unbearable, especially when her lack of adventure always has her choosing the steak. Luckily for him, young couple Mark and Suzanne break the monotony one evening and become the object of a strange obsession.
Joseph’s silent predatory nature keeps things on the wrong side of comfortable (expect a ‘James Fox’s stalker face’ meme), mumbling his way through the Mediterranean heat. Scatty and scolding, but undoubtedly crazy about her husband, the sublime Fricker keeps things bearable in this muddle of questionable script and editing. Threatened by tourists taking away her solitude, her fussy Irish wife is the only character who comes out of this well, when Dormer and Nicholls struggle to make things natural or relatable.
When an overblown scene involving a cat provides the most drama, the lack of commotion between protagonists is a refreshing change that possibly sees events play closer to real life. However, poor direction and criminally underdeveloped characters undermine what could have been an intelligent piece about mental illness and coping with one’s lot in life.
A LONG WAY FROM HOME is released in selected UK cinemas on Friday 6th December.
fosstuff
Jul 9, 2013 at 1:20 pm
Here’s my take on this film:
http://tinybeamoflight.com/2013/07/09/a-long-way-from-home-2013-dir-virginia-gilbert