May and her husband Toots (just out of hospital) pay a visit to their adult son in London. Bobby is frantically busy, trying to earn the money to maintain his selfish wife, their children and lavish lifestyle. Their daughter, Paula, lives close by with her own son. Bobby's carpenter friend, hunky Darren, is adding a conservatory to Bobby's house and is having an affair with Paula.
Toots dies early on and is barely mentioned afterwards. May can't bear to return home and remains with her children in London although they want rid of her. Her grandchildren are indifferent to her and there appears little opportunity to bond with them. May, adrift and alone, embarks on an affair with the much, much younger Darren, despite knowing the depth of her daughter's feelings for him. If I may be judgmental, and I can cause this is my blog, that's just wrong. No wonder Darren's work on the conservatory is falling behind, he's having sex with everything that moves.
Hanif Kureishi's (My Beautiful Laundrette) script is raw and rings all too true; this is a very bleak view of modern urban life. The characters, with the exception of Toots, are selfish and unsympathetic. I liked it but I like dark films with flawed characters and unresolved endings. It's probably not for everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment