lilven Reviews

Come Home (2018)

One of the 'REALEST' series I've seen in a while

[9/10 · 13 April 2018]

There is so much happening in this small peek that we see for this family. There are some truly terrible decisions that are made by both parents, even though they perceived it as beneficial to the family. It is interesting seeing the perspective from each (his in the first episode, hers in the second) before it is combined a little more truthfully in the third. Honestly, I was caught off guard by some of the truths that came out, and was holding my breath to find out how it played out. It wasn't always easy to watch, life often isn't, but man was it realistic.

This was well written and compelling. I wanted to know more and how both main characters got to were they where. That said, the acting was phenomenal. There was a strong cast from the children who were wonderful to the main cast. Christopher Eccleston, Paula Malcomson, and Kerri Quinn took turns breaking my heart and making me angry, to giving me faith back in people. I realize that the topic of accents is an issue for many native Irish speakers, but as a non-Irish person the accents did not distract me.

Overall, I highly recommend this series. It's not light but it is satisfying.

Five by Five (2017)

Neatly Connected and Quirky Shorts

[9/10 · 26 March 2018]

I really enjoyed these interconnected vignettes. I found them to be overall well written. I was slightly confused by the first one, but quickly got where they were going with it. There were moments of sadness, humor, and poignancy. Well worth the approximately 25 mins to sit through all five.

You, Me and Him (2017)

Overall incredibly disappointed

[3/10 · 4 January 2018]

I was very excited to see this as I am a big fan of David Tennant, but sadly this film left me with a sinking feeling by the time it was over.

The good: I am amazed they were able to make this film with a budget of under $160,000. That is incredible and I give the filmmakers huge kudos for that. There were also several good to great performances. Faye Marsay was wonderful, as were David Tennant and Sarah Parrish. And I even laughed once or twice.

The bad: The writing was not good. It doesn't matter how top notch the talent is, the writing dragged them down. There were moments that were just so ridiculous (and not in a good way) that my suspension of disbelief was compromised and I just kept repeating: this is awful, who thought this was a good idea, etc.

Another big problem I had was that there was very little chemistry between the two main characters (supposedly lesbians in a loving relationship). We don't see much evidence of this at all (it was more being told something vs being shown something). The women hardly touched, hardly kissed, and most of the time didn't seem like they even liked each other. For a romantic comedy, there was not a lot of romance. Instead we start the film at two truly horrible decisions being made that should make any sane person turn tail and run from such dysfunction. Most of the film has the two people not even talking let alone trying to fix their relationship. By the end of the film there is a voiceover sort of giving a recap and it's not clear whether the two are even together. I don't consider it a successful romcom if you can't see whether two people are together, but need to wait until you are told whether they are or aren't. Again, I blame the writing and directing choices.

I debated whether or not to include a spoiler, and I won't. BUT there is an event that happens in the film that made me so angry to have watched it, because I thought I was going to be watching an edgy though fun and light hearted romcom. It was traumatic and heartbreaking and not implied in any official chatter around the film. I almost stopped watching right then and there. This film is being sold as a rom-com, but people should know going into it that it is in no way fun or light hearted.