Too much of everything

Powerful

Beautiful, moving film.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Having never heard of these film I was surprised how good it was. Casting was wonderful and the tone, dialogue and costumes very authentic.Enjoyable. Have recommended it to friends and would easily watch it again.Perhaps it would appeal mostly to people who were the same age at that time, which I am. It was quite nostalgic.Gabriel Byrnes and Nicholas Hoult were perfectly cast.

Wah-Wah (2005)It may seem like this story of a dysfunctional family is familiar, and just setting it in a new location (Swaziland, 1969) will perk it up. And that's partly true, both halves. It really is a television soap opera, and it really is interesting for its setting and subtle political backdrop.But it's so decently made, with sterling performances across the line, you can't help but give it a chance. Even when you think, oh no, not this, you will also think, ah, nicely done. Very moving. And funny. And beautiful.And that, oddly, is everything, which says something. The cast is easily read elsewhere (Gabriel Byrne and Emily Watson stand out for me). The director is a completely new name to me, Richard E. Grant, and it turns out he only has 84 movies to his credit--as an actor (including Henry and June and Dracula). This is his only role as director, and it should have encouraged him. With a more original script (which it must be confessed he also wrote), this would have made the sterling performances and great overall production rise to another level.As it is, a completely absorbing movie, being what it is, and for those who appreciate this kind of sometimes funny, sometimes moving melodrama.

Grant's movie had me laughing and crying. It is not a comedy but it has moments of comedy that are priceless - Lady Muck finding out that her expert dancing partner was in fact a black man.....And as ever, looking for continuity faults in films. (concrete railroad ties had not been invented yet) But to be confronted with Grant's childhood by the man himself who had lived it - a remarkable feat indeed. Heard him talk about the producer from a hot place and wondered just how he managed it. The casting was impeccable and that snooty British attitude and its appropriate rejection was about as good as it gets.I can't wait for his next production and hope its as hubbly jubbly as this was! Bill

Richard E Grant's film about his formative years being brought up in Swaziland is fascinating for both what it shows and what it conceals. It is a stunning portrayal of an only child brought up by feuding parents. It shows his parents turmoil in dealing with their required Upper Class Victorian behaviour - even though this is the 1960s - and their frustration at being unable to act their true feelings. It made sense to me of how people in authority who have to behave in such formalised ways to give their roles gravitas end up sacrificing their true desires. But desires come through. His mother turns to having affairs and his Father to alcoholism and the only child stuck in the middle of this is also dis-empowered. He is shuttled off to boarding school and the country of Swaziland and he each find their independence. But there's a real twist in this tale. My wife tells me that Richard E Grant has a brother. Can this be true? If so it means the film makes no sense. The whole basis of the film is the tugging Oedipul triad that destroys them all before each is reborn as is the country with a new identity. You'd better go see it too and see if you can work out why he left the 4th leg off the table?