Tuesday - filmography
Yes, that's Tuesday, the film that causes lots of confusion by its title.
Me to James: Can I borrow Tuesday on Friday?
James: Wha?
See what I mean?
Anyway, I'm not going to give you spoilers, but here's a small review.
Tuesday is a 19802-set British heist film starring Philip Glenister and John Simm as gangsters and Kevin McNally as the police chief who's after them. That's better pedigree than any tagline could give, isn't it? Indeed, on the back of the DVD it uses the fact that it reunites the Life on Mars stars as a major highlight. On watching it, you can see why.
I'm not saying it's a bad film, it's just awfully... well, modern. Experimental in form, let's say. It's non-linear. Bits from all over the place are shoved into a carefully selected order to reveal information in the order in which the makers want you to have access to it. By the end, however, I still didn't feel satisfied that it made sense. It ends very suddenly... but no spoilers, as I said. Let's just say that if you're going to play with chronology like that, then I think what you choose for the ending needs to be really strong and have a lot of impact, and this didn't.
It also very obviously had a low budget. There must have bee about three non-studio locations in it (by which I mean a street, a back alley and a football stadium). I suspect Glenister and Simm, and indeed McNally (who's been in the Pirates films and therefore has Hollywood pedigree where the others don't) were doing it as a favour, maybe to the director. Kate MacGowan, Simm's wife was in it, and I'm pretty sure McNally's mistress was played by Beth Goddard, Glenister's wife. There were a few other actors I recognised but couldn't put a name to, among them my girly crush from Sea of Souls and The Royal Today (long dark hair, Scottish, lovely eyes - any know who I mean?). All very in house, anyway. But this in itself is no bad thing - plenty of British films have used this kind of old boys club approach to casting and worked very well (anyone remember Peter's Friends?).
The problem, really, is that the experimentalism is coupled with a very weak script. Glenister and Simm acted beautifully, and Simm's scouse accent was really one of the best I've heard from a non-scouser, but they had so little to work with. It could have been brilliant, but instead it felt like a bit of a damp squib. There was very little plot, and what there was was terribly predictable. I found myself knowing what everyone was going to say before they said it. Worst of all, it just wasn't funny. If there had been humour in the script, as is traditional from British films of this sort, then the actors would at least have had a chance to show off their timing, which we know to be perfect. Seeing Philip Glenister wearing a red handkerchief over his face like a highwayman just wasn't enough to make up for it, I'm afraid.
Me to James: Can I borrow Tuesday on Friday?
James: Wha?
See what I mean?
Anyway, I'm not going to give you spoilers, but here's a small review.
Tuesday is a 19802-set British heist film starring Philip Glenister and John Simm as gangsters and Kevin McNally as the police chief who's after them. That's better pedigree than any tagline could give, isn't it? Indeed, on the back of the DVD it uses the fact that it reunites the Life on Mars stars as a major highlight. On watching it, you can see why.
I'm not saying it's a bad film, it's just awfully... well, modern. Experimental in form, let's say. It's non-linear. Bits from all over the place are shoved into a carefully selected order to reveal information in the order in which the makers want you to have access to it. By the end, however, I still didn't feel satisfied that it made sense. It ends very suddenly... but no spoilers, as I said. Let's just say that if you're going to play with chronology like that, then I think what you choose for the ending needs to be really strong and have a lot of impact, and this didn't.
It also very obviously had a low budget. There must have bee about three non-studio locations in it (by which I mean a street, a back alley and a football stadium). I suspect Glenister and Simm, and indeed McNally (who's been in the Pirates films and therefore has Hollywood pedigree where the others don't) were doing it as a favour, maybe to the director. Kate MacGowan, Simm's wife was in it, and I'm pretty sure McNally's mistress was played by Beth Goddard, Glenister's wife. There were a few other actors I recognised but couldn't put a name to, among them my girly crush from Sea of Souls and The Royal Today (long dark hair, Scottish, lovely eyes - any know who I mean?). All very in house, anyway. But this in itself is no bad thing - plenty of British films have used this kind of old boys club approach to casting and worked very well (anyone remember Peter's Friends?).
The problem, really, is that the experimentalism is coupled with a very weak script. Glenister and Simm acted beautifully, and Simm's scouse accent was really one of the best I've heard from a non-scouser, but they had so little to work with. It could have been brilliant, but instead it felt like a bit of a damp squib. There was very little plot, and what there was was terribly predictable. I found myself knowing what everyone was going to say before they said it. Worst of all, it just wasn't funny. If there had been humour in the script, as is traditional from British films of this sort, then the actors would at least have had a chance to show off their timing, which we know to be perfect. Seeing Philip Glenister wearing a red handkerchief over his face like a highwayman just wasn't enough to make up for it, I'm afraid.