What’s it about?
Tony (Jim Broadbent) leads a reclusive, curmudgeonly existence until a letter from his past resurfaces and forces him to confront his flawed recollections of his past in the film adaptation of Julian Barnes’ Man Booker Prize-winning novel.
What did we think?
Elizabeth Best says: It’s ironic that a film about missing memories seems to be missing a crucial “ah-hah” moment for a satisfying conclusion. I kept waiting for a payoff to justify the slow burning, mysterious atmosphere and when it came, it proved too ambiguous and open-ended to provide any closure. Perhaps that’s the point; that in life we may never know the full story. It’s a fine point to make philosophically but proves for a less than satisfying experience for film-goers. Not even captivating performances from all, especially Broadbent, weren’t enough to shake the feeling that something was lost in translation from page to screen.
