I was torn over whether I wanted to see this film. On the one hand it features Keira Knightley (ugh). On the other, Carey Mulligan, who has yet to annoy me. On the third, Andrew Garfield, the Man Who Will Be Spider. And on the fourth hand, it's adapted from a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro who wrote Remains Of The Day, one of the most emotionally affecting films I've ever seen. Actually, that's three hands to one in favour. Louise didn't even need to cast the deciding vote. Good job, as it only takes one of Louise's hands to beat any number of mine. Never take her on in an arm wrestle.
Anyway, I'm glad we saw it at the cinema. It's a moving love story with a nice speculative twist. If you don't know, I won't tell you - but I was pleased by the way the script at no point actually uses the c-word to describe the characters in question. No, not that c-word. The screenplay credits its audience with half a brain. Not surprising as it was adapted by Alex Garland of The Beach and 28 Days Later.
There's a good reason to see this film even if you don't like Keira Knightley... you're not supposed to like her. She's the other woman, a selfish and spiteful creature who comes between our lovers and prevents them from living the life they should have lived. Of course she comes good in the end, albeit too late to make much difference. And she does ACT a little too much, as though someone's told her she might be in with a shot at an Oscar because the script requires her to "do illness". (Surprisingly, Never Let Me Go doesn't appear to have troubled Oscar at all. Which is a shame.) Mulligan is good value, and Spider-Boy shows great promise. (Let's hope he got the c-word out of his system though, we can do without any of those buggers cropping up in any future Spidey films.) Louise was in tears at the end, though I remained strangely unmoved. It's usually the other way round. I sobbed my heart out at the end of The A-Team. But I'm just an old softie...
