Movies
Not the worst drama, but it is very predictable and more than a little slow-moving. There are some quirky characters that liven things up, but the lead is pretty dull and it takes way too long before the film reaches its foregone conclusion. Ultimately, I didn't really care too much about how it all ended. Mac works for an oil company. He is sent to a small seaside town in Scotland, where he has to convince the local residents to sell him a piece of land. The longer he stays in the village and the better he gets to know the people there, the more he starts to doubt the moral implications of his job. The local townsfolk are nice enough, performances are decent and the cinematography clearly received some attention, but there's nothing that really stands out here. It's all so very safe, by the numbers, and unadventurous. Certainly not the worst, but forgettable in just about every way imaginable.Read all
The most remarkable thing about this film is that it grew out to be a classic. Gregory's Girl is bland and basic in just about every way. The director seemed to be aware of this and figured he still had a shot when he made his film as inoffensive as possible. I guess it worked, though don't ask me how. Gregory is a rather dorky kid who falls in love with the Dorothy. She's a bold girl who joins the male football team and doesn't really care what others think of her. She's not really into Gregory, but even though he isn't good with girls, he's quite persistent and after a while Dorothy starts to fall for his charms. Performances are dim, the film looks like it was made for TV, the score sounds like it was salvaged from a public domain database. It's as cinematic as an episode of Wheel of Fortune, but the characters are somewhat charming and the coming of age elements do come together rather well. Not the worst thing ever, but hardly worth recommending.Read all