Sometimes it feels as if British cinema runs off a very limited talent pool: on seeing the cast for 'Lawless Heart' included Bill Nighy and Douglas Henshall, my heart groaned, not so much out of dislike of these actors, rather due to the dreadful predictability of the casting. But in fact, this is a sensitive and absorbing film, which follows the emotional fall out of a young man's death by telling three overlapping stories. The cinematography (of the East Anglian coast) is not spectacularly original, but well done, the soundtrack is also nicely judged, but what's best is the characterisation. The protagonists are all recognisably human and three dimensional, not wicked but still capable of hurting each other through their own selfishness, and while the plot has overtones of soap opera, the mood of the piece is much less melodramatic than this implies. This is not an astonishing movie, but it never overplays its premise, and feels true to life. By the end, I'd forgotten how many other low budget British films I'd seen its cast in.
Review of Lawless Heart
