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Blessed (2005)
Young Ones Turning In Their Graves
10 January 2006
Sadly, I have to agree with the majority of viewer comments so far. As much as I enjoyed Blackadder and think that Ben Elton is an intelligent and genuine human being with a good, if patchy, track record, for me Blessed fails on all levels.

Primarily consisting of irritatingly smug middle class characters delivering deeply obvious and unfunny lines in a stilted way that made the performances in Ever Decreasing Circles seem like Lenny Bruce on crack, perhaps the worst sections involved the occasionally hapless depictions of musicians in a recording studio, which seemed to be based on half-remembered episodes of Rock Follies.

In many ways, it's sad to see someone who subverted and refreshed the nature of sitcom in the 1980s produce such a dated, tired, clichéd and hopelessly out of touch series. Constantly at odds with the way real people live, speak and look, it appears that Elton's art has turned into everything The Young Ones seemed to be fighting against.
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3/10
Dial A Cliché
30 September 2005
Warning: Spoilers
As a long-standing fan of Cronenberg, I've been surprised at the enthusiasm this film seems to have generated. The dialogue is dull, the characterisation minimal and bar one or two powerful cinematic set pieces, for me, this extremely conventional film falls short of Cronenberg's usually high and idiosyncratic standards.

Dealing in clichéd depictions of small town and urban life, there seems to be little genuine depth or plausibility. Additionally, there's a complete lack of tension throughout. At no point do we believe that Tom/Joey is in any real danger whatever precarious situation he finds himself in.

Like The Dead Zone and The Fly (both far better films, in my opinion), A History Of Violence appears to be a way of Cronenberg making a 'studio' film in order for him to get enough finance for a more personal project (hopefully, something of the intensity and vision of a Dead Ringers or a Spider will follow).

The two main ideas underpinning the film (the nature of identity, and the violence that lurks beneath mundane surfaces) have been better dealt with elsewhere in the likes of Music Box and Blue Velvet,

Personally, I found the film unchallenging, trite and hugely disappointing.
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