3/9/17

The Sense of an Ending

Warning. This PG-13 film is for adults! There is no gunfire, No profanity. No vehicular mayhem, No zombies. No superheroes. And no blowie uppie stuff! Instead we have what appear to be real people with real issues, and a cast that can deliver the goods.

However... Adults notwithstanding: No CAPTIONS! A few lucky people in our screening audience were able to catch the gist of some of the humor, but many of us, particularly those of us with hearing loss, were completely at sea for much of this film.

Working from a novel by Julian Barnes and adapted for the screen by Nick Payne, acclaimed director Ritesh Batra ("The Lunchbox") has assembled this stellar cast:
  • Jim Broadbent ("Game of Thrones") Tony Webster can look back on his life with a certain amount of satisfaction, after all, he'll soon be a grandfather, plus he has that tiny little camera repair shop and just (barely) enough customers.
  • Harriet Walter ("Call the Midwife") His ex-wife Margaret has a slightly different take. He had never seemed very engaged in their marriage, which is why she divorced him a few years ago.
  • Michelle Dockery ("Downton Abbey") Their daughter Susie just wants her baby...false alarms and all.
  • Charlotte Rampling ("Broadchurch") Tony's old flame Veronica Ford, on the other hand, does not feel duty-bound to deliver that diary to Tony, no matter what she was instructed.
  • Emily Mortimer ("The Newsroom") Veronica's mother Sarah was a free spirit sorely in need of diversion. She enjoyed her daughter's friends...a LOT!
  • We also see Tony and Veronica as their younger selves, ably portrayed by Billy Howle and Freya Mavor. We can see that these young adults were living in a hormonal storm and not coping with it very honorably.
Our hero insists that our lives are a series of holding pens, but they become the history we choose to remember; now he has to live with that theory.

This unpredictable movie had so many things to recommend it, it was even more frustrating when the poor sound detracted from the story. I wish I had better things to report... Sorry.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Take a look:
* * * * * * * * * * * *