The title's play of words, while having a specific reference (the "three-button rule" for wearing a three-button suit), may also lead you to think about the word game Scrabble. If you do, you are on the right track. There is one other movie "Snow Cake" (2006) that has one hilarious Scrabble scene. In "Sometime Always Never", Scrabble plays a pivotal role. The protagonist Alan's (Bill Nighy) "prodigal son" Michael walked out in the middle of a game with his father and never returned. His mother soon died, leaving younger son Peter (Sam Riley) in an awkward relationship with their father.
The story starts years later when Peter himself has already become a father, to a teenage son. Scrabble games (with friends and with family), wisely not overused, threads the story. After Alan becomes addicted to online games, a mystery develops as he encounters a player whose playing style and word usage is suspiciously like Michael's.
I mentioned "Snow Cake". An absolutely first-class movie with Sigourney Weaver's brilliant portrayal of an autistic woman, among other things. "Sometime Always Never", while not quite reaching that level of complexity and depth, is itself a little gem. Delightfully minimalist, it revolves around a family that you can easily root for - father and son having difficulties communicating but love clearly palpable, slightly eccentric yet very likeable wife (a chemist who floods the Scrabble board with chemical terms), totally normal and cheerful teenager with a sweet, pleasant girlfriend. A perfect picture of blissful domesticity that is shadowed by the history of the disappearance of one of its members.
The two leads are such joy to watch, particularly Nighy. It is hard to think of anyone who can do this better. Oh, maybe one. Alan Arkin (think "The Kominski method").
The story starts years later when Peter himself has already become a father, to a teenage son. Scrabble games (with friends and with family), wisely not overused, threads the story. After Alan becomes addicted to online games, a mystery develops as he encounters a player whose playing style and word usage is suspiciously like Michael's.
I mentioned "Snow Cake". An absolutely first-class movie with Sigourney Weaver's brilliant portrayal of an autistic woman, among other things. "Sometime Always Never", while not quite reaching that level of complexity and depth, is itself a little gem. Delightfully minimalist, it revolves around a family that you can easily root for - father and son having difficulties communicating but love clearly palpable, slightly eccentric yet very likeable wife (a chemist who floods the Scrabble board with chemical terms), totally normal and cheerful teenager with a sweet, pleasant girlfriend. A perfect picture of blissful domesticity that is shadowed by the history of the disappearance of one of its members.
The two leads are such joy to watch, particularly Nighy. It is hard to think of anyone who can do this better. Oh, maybe one. Alan Arkin (think "The Kominski method").