You know when you begin daydreaming early in a film, something is lacking. I missed much of the storyline because I began compiling my grocery list in my head while watching. I had to keep rewinding to catch up on dialog until I just gave up and salvaged what I could. That would be the acting. It is uniformly sublime. Sally Hawkins continues to dazzle - her performance here is about as far as you can get from her role in 'Happy Go Lucky'. Too bad her role in NLMG is so small.
It goes without saying that Carey Mulligan if fast becoming one of the finest actors in film. She takes a limp, passive character and breathes life where is so little. Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield also bring a little life to equally insipid characters, valiantly trying to enliven them from a walking dead state.
The direction, while steady, is unimaginative and dull. Scenes take too long. Some inspired editing would have given the story more homogeny and quickened the deadly pace. It doesn't help that a whiny score floats around this movie, invading its space rather than enhancing it. Pity is, there is a good movie somewhere here. It's just not on the screen.
It goes without saying that Carey Mulligan if fast becoming one of the finest actors in film. She takes a limp, passive character and breathes life where is so little. Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield also bring a little life to equally insipid characters, valiantly trying to enliven them from a walking dead state.
The direction, while steady, is unimaginative and dull. Scenes take too long. Some inspired editing would have given the story more homogeny and quickened the deadly pace. It doesn't help that a whiny score floats around this movie, invading its space rather than enhancing it. Pity is, there is a good movie somewhere here. It's just not on the screen.