Reviews

Luckily it was only 77 minutes. This documentary on Liverpool, UK, during the 20th century had potential, but it was like watching a college student's project instead of the work of a 64 year old man. The archival footage was interesting, but the negative, cynical poetry of TS Eliot and James Joyce was very depressing and dark. Here is footage of smiling beautiful Brits going about life and being happy with friends and family, and happy playing children, despite living in a poor city, and the heavy dressing poetry being read over it was ridiculous. Try living in a tough, diverse American urban center, with rampant crime & conflict and then you'll have something to complain about. The poetry was hard to understand too, and no captions available. It is pretentious to prove you are literate by using Joyce or Eliot's words (or whoever the poems were by - there was no attribution), despite them being very whiny, cynical, negative and depressing.

It was boring to me and to my male friend. We didn't think it was cute or clever to call Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, 'Betty and Phil" and to be so critical of the Royal pomp & pageantry while adoring Hollywood glitter and pomp. The commentary was unwise, immature, cynical and depressing. The special features were BORING too. Everyone is kissing butt of the director because of past work, but this movie was like a POV show on PBS.

The director could have focused on any number of beautiful things about life in Liverpool, including the beauty of the townspeople, instead of the depressing drone of complaints. I recommend to miss it or watch the footage with the sound off. One other point: in the special features they mention more than once that the song The Folks Who Live on the Hill was "BY" Peggy Lee. She sang it, but it was written "BY" Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern.

What a wonderful movie. There is no female nudity (what a relief), no cursing, no coarse American culture in it. There are some scary moments in it that might frighten children and frightened me somewhat, but after all of that there is a happy ending, which is refreshing. The film quality is surprisingly clear and realistic. The children are adorable. The trained dog is amazing. Thomas Sangster is so very adorable as Henry, an orphan who attaches to Jim. According to a special feature included on the DVD, which you should read, this is based on a real dog that did live and perform at a railway station to raise money for an orphanage. I highly recommend this film to people who love dogs, Victoriana, British good manners and 19th century costumes.

This is a heavy handed sledgehammer of political propaganda. It is NOT a comedy as listed. Not at all. It is a heavy handed drama about a guilty white man who gives the ultimate respect to Muslims (one from Senegal, the other from Syria, originally Palestinian). There was a scene that was anti-Semitic in feeling where Walter's neighbor with a Jewish name is presented as gay, silly, talking about his mother who moved to Florida & his little dog Mr. Sparkles. Walter disrespects and blows off this Jewish man. But he gives the ultimate of respect to these Muslims who somehow wind up living in his apartment without his permission, but because they are 3rd world and Muslim, Walter never is upset about strangers living in his apartment because they are 3rd world, but revels in their exotic coolness. He would not have been so kind to Anglo-Saxon or Jewish Americans. The whole film is so anti-American and guilty. Except the 2 from Syria/Palestine and 1 from Senegal/Paris want to be here. Luckily they also portray Syria as evil. At least they do show that Palestinian Syrians have money for international travel, cellphones & musical instruments. The secondary story is about mid-life, but thinking that being less white, i.e.bland, is going to make you happy is ridiculous. Just know before you rent this that it is first & foremost a political propaganda, guilty white American film. When the Senegal woman says: "That is where the twin towers were", no one says anything, like what a tragedy -- they say nothing at all!