Apparently this is based on a real experience, where the writer/director met an older guy in a bar as a student, and the guy was struggling with the loss of his partner – just as Terry is in this case. In trying to replicate this memory, the film really seems to miss the core aspect of how it must have been in real life – it was real, and everything was "natural"; if there was awkwardness in the conversation then it was like that for ways which made sense in the context of the real situation, but in the film this is not the case.
There is almost too much "directness" with the film, and it is really far too obvious in almost every regard – there is no grey area anywhere here. The film spells everything out for us, far too clearly. It starts with the opening scenes, and continues all the way to the final shots and development – which are of course fictionalized as they occurred after the writer/director left the "real" scene, but they are clunky in their simplicity. The main body of the film is the scene in the pub, and it is a scene that cried out for strong writing and performances, to bring things out between words and to move characters along in the eyes of the viewer. Unfortunately the dialogue is stiff and unnatural from the two young men, and a bit too obvious from Terry. An unfortunate side-effect of this is that the scene feels oddly cruel and mocking – not saying this is how the writer/director was in the real moment, but here there is no compassion or interest from the two students, and it causes these scenes to have an odd and distracting tone.
Technically it is fairly well delivered; not beautiful to look at, or particularly creative visually, but functional to do the job and not have bad camera-work or sound distract from the narrative. In the lead role Stewart is as good as he can be, I really just felt he was being given material and direction which limited him in terms of what he did and where he went. The end result is a film that has personal meaning to the creator, but really doesn't tell a great story in a way that draws the viewer in or offers room to explore and engage.
There is almost too much "directness" with the film, and it is really far too obvious in almost every regard – there is no grey area anywhere here. The film spells everything out for us, far too clearly. It starts with the opening scenes, and continues all the way to the final shots and development – which are of course fictionalized as they occurred after the writer/director left the "real" scene, but they are clunky in their simplicity. The main body of the film is the scene in the pub, and it is a scene that cried out for strong writing and performances, to bring things out between words and to move characters along in the eyes of the viewer. Unfortunately the dialogue is stiff and unnatural from the two young men, and a bit too obvious from Terry. An unfortunate side-effect of this is that the scene feels oddly cruel and mocking – not saying this is how the writer/director was in the real moment, but here there is no compassion or interest from the two students, and it causes these scenes to have an odd and distracting tone.
Technically it is fairly well delivered; not beautiful to look at, or particularly creative visually, but functional to do the job and not have bad camera-work or sound distract from the narrative. In the lead role Stewart is as good as he can be, I really just felt he was being given material and direction which limited him in terms of what he did and where he went. The end result is a film that has personal meaning to the creator, but really doesn't tell a great story in a way that draws the viewer in or offers room to explore and engage.