There we go again – sometimes bad wordplay, if it’s consistent, can become genius. Or so we like to believe. Anyway, apologies for those queuing up for the Boy A review, but TToH can say in all honesty that missing most of the film was not their fault...
You see, when we left the computer to catch the film on Channel 4 at 9pm last night, TToH found that Mrs. TToH had occupied the television watching America’s Next Top Model. Since she had a long day AND cooked dinner (a delightful stir fry), TToH relented, pressed record on the DVD player and read for a while. Two hours later and horror of horrors – the blasted, confounded, curse-o’-God DVD player cut out a half-an-hour in.
The film opens with a 24-year-old boy (Andrew Garfield, above right) waiting release from prison. Given the name ‘Jack’, he is taken to a new town by his friendly parole officer (Peter Mullan) and lands a job at an airport where he makes a friend (in Anthony Lewis) and a date with the saucy secretary. Using the occasional flashbacks to the build up to the killing, TToH was disappointed to find that the boy he killed was a bully; we felt the film would have more bite if the kid were the quiet type. The DVD cut out just as ‘Jack’ reads a daily tabloid documenting his release from prison, with the headline ‘Evil Comes Of Age’.
The Intermission team seem to compliment each other: O’Rowe’s dialogue was stripped back while Crowley let the script to the talking. Mullan was restrained and Garfield gives ‘Jack’ that fish-out-of-water awkwardness but delivered it with subtlety. What we’ve seen impressed us immensely and according to Declan Burke at Crime Always Pays, the remainder was “top notch.” If you managed to catch the film, please leave a comment with your thoughts.
2 comments:
TToH,
It was an exceptional piece of work by all involved. The writing was astonishing, the direction compelling, the photography eerie and tense and moving. I read a mixed review on the London Times website this morning but for me it was one of the most stunning pieces of drama I've ever seen on television - up there with Greengrass's Bloody Sunday in my own admittedly limited inventory. Andrew Garfield in the lead role was immense: believable, humble, violent, likeable. He grabbed the attention from the first shot.
One point: the child killed was not the bully. I can see how you might have made that mistake if the DVD cut off at a certain point. Instead, Eric (aka "Jack") and Philip, the two truants, murdered a girl of similar age to themselves, a scene which took place off-camera in flashback about 15 minutes from the end of the film.
Shane
Thanks, Shane! Although I only saw a half hour, I thought it was shaping up nicely. And the London Times gave it a mixed review, yeah? These film critics, eh?
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