Film Review - Finding You (2021)

 Finding You is based off of a novel and stars Rose Reid as a New York violin player who hopes to get into a music school but is rejected so her mother suggests she take up a Semester Abroad program in Ireland and there she meets Beckett Rush (Jedidiah Goodacre) who is starring in a fantasy film called Dawn of the Dragon and the two grow close while their there but young love is not easy.

 

Finding You is perfectly fine and mainly worth seeing for the nice Irish scenery on a big cinema screen and like Wild Mountain Thyme from earlier this year does a very nice job of showing people how lovely Ireland as a country can be and I did like Rose Reid as the central character, she seemed like a nice young actress that I hope to see more of in the future.

 

2 other people I also enjoyed seeing are Patrick Bergin and Vanessa Redgrave who I thought in all honesty had passed on, Bergin was nice as the wise old Fiddle player in the pub while Redgrave plays a retirement home resident with a dark secret and when I was watching her scenes in the film I kept thinking of Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons saying “TV’s Bottomless Chumbucket has claimed Vanessa Redgrave”

 

And so that was Finding You and it’s fine, perfectly fine but not one I would rush out to watch, Farewell Dear Nessa, 2 out of 5.

Film Review - The Father (2021)

The Father stars Sir Anthony Hopkins as a Father to Ann (Olivia Coleman) who is living with severe dementia, on some days he’s charming and likeable and others he can’t remember where he is and it is putting great strain on Ann’s own life as she tries to move to Paris but is reluctant to do so without thinking her Dad will be looked after in his remaining time.

 

The Father was what I had expected from June Again a heavy drama about a serious illness and it is a tough watch and I am not someone who is squeamish in any way but this isn’t like an action/adventure film where we have a certain expectation that justice will prevail but here it is about a very real illness that affects even the best of us in this life and there isn’t a damn thing anyone a doctor or a family member can do about it apart from comfort them, give them medicine and wait for the disease to run its course and claim its victim and that is an awful thing.

 

Who isn’t awful in this movie is Sir Hopkins, he is fantastic and this role gives him a chance to really remind everyone how good of an actor he really is, he is charming/loveable/commanding in most scene and in one scene towards the end of the film heart breaking, I nearly cried in my cinema seat watching that scene and it’s a scene I probably won’t forget for a while longer.

 

Olivia Coleman is also very good here and she has the less showy role as Ann the daughter left behind to pick up the pieces but she shows the strain of someone who has to care for her father in his remaining time as he suffers a debilitating illness, Imogen Poots and Rufus Sewell are also pretty good here in small roles but this is very much a 2 hander between Coleman and Hopkins.

 

The film also a lot of very good editing which makes you think something is real when it most likely isn’t and something is fake when it is most likely real, Florian Zeller who co-wrote the script and directed the film does a good job directing the film but it is mainly looking as good as it is due to the editing work here.

 

And so that was the Father and it’s a heavy watch albeit well made but I won’t be going back to it again anytime soon, 3 out of 5.

 

Film Review - June Again (2021)

 June Again is an Australian film that stars Noni Hazlehurst as June a woman who after a series of strokes has been living in a care home with Dementia but one morning her memory seemingly returns and she escapes from the home to find her children (Claudia Karvan and Stephen Curry) are living fragmented lives and she is now determined to bring her family back together.

 

June Again I thought would be a serious drama about someone living with Dementia and her children coming back together to take care of her during one last adventure before she passes or something along those lines but to my surprise this is actually good fun with a lot of laughs to be had along the way.

 

Many of those laughs belong to Hazlehurst who is an Australian treasure by this stage and she more than proves why in this movie, she is very funny and forthright and the audience I saw the film with really enjoyed her scenes in the film, Karvan and Curry are fine but they are very much the backup act for Hazlehurst to shine.

 

As for the storyline well again it was surprising that this was as light in tone as it was as it wasn’t what I had expected as I thought it would be a heavy drama instead while it has some dramatic elements it feels kind of like a romantic comedy at times in terms of that longing for a lost love and it kinda worked for me it wasn’t anything I would rave about but it certainly wasn’t a terrible bore either.

 

And so that was June Again and its one of the years surprises for me movie wise, it was good fun with a cinema audience and Hazelhurst still has great appeal after all these years, 3 out of 5.