movie review
A Long Way Down
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, and Aaron Paul
Director: Pascal Chaumeil
Tagline: Life is looking up.
It’s hard to resist Nick Hornby’s compelling blend of bleak drama and quirky humour. His dark comedies about broken people and unconventional relationships usually render themselves into interesting movies, as evident by the success of High Fidelity (2000), About a Boy (2002), Fever Pitch (1997), and its American remake The Perfect Pitch (2005). That is precisely why it is so confusingly disappointing that A Long Way Down is such an irredeemable mess.
The latest adaptation of Hornby’s work, A Long Way Down is based on his 2005 novel of the same name. Johnny Depp famously acquired the rights to the book before it was even published, although the project has since changed hands, with the writer’s wife Amanda Posey now serving as a co-producer.
The film tells the story of four strangers - Martin (Pierce Brosnan), a disgraced television presenter; Maureen (Toni Collette), a timid, struggling single mother; Jess (Imogen Poots), a troubled young woman; and J.J. (Aaron Paul), a pizza delivery guy - who find themselves at the same place at the same time with the same intention: jumping off a tall building in London on New Year’s Eve. After their suicide attempts are interrupted by each other’s presence, the group forms a pact, vowing to postpone their plans till at least Valentine’s Day, which happens to be the next popular date on the calendar. Thereon, the Toppers’ House Four form an impromptu support group and eventually end up stringing the media along after the press gets wind of their story.
The plot didn’t seem as tacky in the novel (which admittedly wasn’t Hornby’s finest piece of work), but it has completely unravelled by the time it hits the screen. The fault primarily lies with the film’s British writer Jack Thorne and French director Pascal Chaumeil, who never find the right balance between dark and amusing, nor pick the right tone for the project. Instead of using this premise as an opportunity to offer a deep, affecting look at a difficult subject, the filmmakers seem to be under the impression that they should paint the narrative with romantic comedy sensibilities. The result is a cloying mess that trivializes its subject matter in order to serve us some corny and misguidedly cutesy fluff.
Ready to jump off a skyscraper one instant and trading witty barbs the next, the characters remain bereft of believability and originality, and are never developed beyond their stereotypical frameworks. By revolving around protagonists that are paper thin clichés, the film doesn’t give its actors any solid material to work with and fails to make use of the skills of its talented cast. Pierce Brosnan’s Martin never succeeds in generating sympathy; Toni Collette overplays Maureen’s coyness; Imogen Poots tries a little too hard to stand out, but her manic Jess never seems real and serves only to grate; and after being inert for most of the film, Aaron Paul’s J.J. is eventually given a chance to add some weight to the narrative, but it’s a development that comes too late and isn’t as impactful as it should be.
On the whole, A Long Way Down is a supposed dark comedy that is ultimately neither dark nor funny. Its contrived premise rings false; the story struggles to draw you in; the characters fail to charm or make a connection with the viewers or even seem real; and its trivialized take on its underlying subject doesn’t handle its nuances properly and with the depth and insight it deserves. In the hands of better filmmakers who were fluent in this genre and knew how to give this story a more suitable tone, the project could have potentially been much more impressive.
- S.A.
Director: Pascal Chaumeil
Tagline: Life is looking up.
The latest adaptation of Hornby’s work, A Long Way Down is based on his 2005 novel of the same name. Johnny Depp famously acquired the rights to the book before it was even published, although the project has since changed hands, with the writer’s wife Amanda Posey now serving as a co-producer.
The film tells the story of four strangers - Martin (Pierce Brosnan), a disgraced television presenter; Maureen (Toni Collette), a timid, struggling single mother; Jess (Imogen Poots), a troubled young woman; and J.J. (Aaron Paul), a pizza delivery guy - who find themselves at the same place at the same time with the same intention: jumping off a tall building in London on New Year’s Eve. After their suicide attempts are interrupted by each other’s presence, the group forms a pact, vowing to postpone their plans till at least Valentine’s Day, which happens to be the next popular date on the calendar. Thereon, the Toppers’ House Four form an impromptu support group and eventually end up stringing the media along after the press gets wind of their story.
The plot didn’t seem as tacky in the novel (which admittedly wasn’t Hornby’s finest piece of work), but it has completely unravelled by the time it hits the screen. The fault primarily lies with the film’s British writer Jack Thorne and French director Pascal Chaumeil, who never find the right balance between dark and amusing, nor pick the right tone for the project. Instead of using this premise as an opportunity to offer a deep, affecting look at a difficult subject, the filmmakers seem to be under the impression that they should paint the narrative with romantic comedy sensibilities. The result is a cloying mess that trivializes its subject matter in order to serve us some corny and misguidedly cutesy fluff.
Ready to jump off a skyscraper one instant and trading witty barbs the next, the characters remain bereft of believability and originality, and are never developed beyond their stereotypical frameworks. By revolving around protagonists that are paper thin clichés, the film doesn’t give its actors any solid material to work with and fails to make use of the skills of its talented cast. Pierce Brosnan’s Martin never succeeds in generating sympathy; Toni Collette overplays Maureen’s coyness; Imogen Poots tries a little too hard to stand out, but her manic Jess never seems real and serves only to grate; and after being inert for most of the film, Aaron Paul’s J.J. is eventually given a chance to add some weight to the narrative, but it’s a development that comes too late and isn’t as impactful as it should be.
On the whole, A Long Way Down is a supposed dark comedy that is ultimately neither dark nor funny. Its contrived premise rings false; the story struggles to draw you in; the characters fail to charm or make a connection with the viewers or even seem real; and its trivialized take on its underlying subject doesn’t handle its nuances properly and with the depth and insight it deserves. In the hands of better filmmakers who were fluent in this genre and knew how to give this story a more suitable tone, the project could have potentially been much more impressive.
- S.A.
Us Magazine, The News - 23rd January, 2015 *
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, and Aaron Paul
Director: Pascal Chaumeil
Tagline: Life is looking up.
Director: Pascal Chaumeil
Tagline: Life is looking up.
It’s
hard to resist Nick Hornby’s compelling blend of bleak drama and quirky
humour. His dark comedies about broken people and unconventional
relationships usually render themselves into interesting movies, as
evident by the success of High Fidelity (2000), About a Boy (2002),
Fever Pitch (1997), and its American remake The Perfect Pitch (2005).
That is precisely why it is so confusingly disappointing that A Long Way
Down is such an irredeemable mess.
The
latest adaptation of Hornby’s work, A Long Way Down is based on his
2005 novel of the same name. Johnny Depp famously acquired the rights to
the book before it was even published, although the project has since
changed hands, with the writer’s wife Amanda Posey now serving as a
co-producer.
The
film tells the story of four strangers - Martin (Pierce Brosnan), a
disgraced television presenter; Maureen (Toni Collette), a timid,
struggling single mother; Jess (Imogen Poots), a troubled young woman;
and J.J. (Aaron Paul), a pizza delivery guy - who find themselves at the
same place at the same time with the same intention: jumping off a tall
building in London on New Year’s Eve. After their suicide attempts are
interrupted by each other’s presence, the group forms a pact, vowing to
postpone their plans till at least Valentine’s Day, which happens to be
the next popular date on the calendar. Thereon, the Toppers’ House Four
form an impromptu support group and eventually end up stringing the
media along after the press gets wind of their story.
The
plot didn’t seem as tacky in the novel (which admittedly wasn’t
Hornby’s finest piece of work), but it has completely unravelled by the
time it hits the screen. The fault primarily lies with the film’s
British writer Jack Thorne and French director Pascal Chaumeil, who
never find the right balance between dark and amusing, nor pick the
right tone for the project. Instead of using this premise as an
opportunity to offer a deep, affecting look at a difficult subject, the
filmmakers seem to be under the impression that they should paint the
narrative with romantic comedy sensibilities. The result is a cloying
mess that trivializes its subject matter in order to serve us some corny
and misguidedly cutesy fluff.
Ready
to jump off a skyscraper one instant and trading witty barbs the next,
the characters remain bereft of believability and originality, and are
never developed beyond their stereotypical frameworks. By revolving
around protagonists that are paper thin clichés, the film doesn’t give
its actors any solid material to work with and fails to make use of the
skills of its talented cast. Pierce Brosnan’s Martin never succeeds in
generating sympathy; Toni Collette overplays Maureen’s coyness; Imogen
Poots tries a little too hard to stand out, but her manic Jess never
seems real and serves only to grate; and after being inert for most of
the film, Aaron Paul’s J.J. is eventually given a chance to add some
weight to the narrative, but it’s a development that comes too late and
isn’t as impactful as it should be.
On
the whole, A Long Way Down is a supposed dark comedy that is ultimately
neither dark nor funny. Its contrived premise rings false; the story
struggles to draw you in; the characters fail to charm or make a
connection with the viewers or even seem real; and its trivialized take
on its underlying subject doesn’t handle its nuances properly and with
the depth and insight it deserves. In the hands of better filmmakers who
were fluent in this genre and knew how to give this story a more
suitable tone, the project could have potentially been much more
impressive.
-SA
- See more at: http://magazine.thenews.com.pk/mag/detail_article.asp?id=10008&magId=9#sthash.odPk4LUr.dpuf
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