I didn't realize until the very end that this film is based on a book of the same name, a true story about Brendan Behan, an Irish writer and political activist, and his time in a British labor camp. It's pitched as a dreamy, romantic film, and it really only comes alive in the last 20 to 25 minutes, where the emotions run high and it tugs at your heart. For the first half I had no clue where the story was headed, though it did start making sense eventually. Brendan is a 16 year old Irish boy who gets caught trying to smuggle a few sticks of dynamite on board, and he's sent off to Borstal, an underage detention center. That's where he meets Charlie, a sailor who's openly gay and also locked up there. Brendan makes it clear he's not gay, but the two still become really close friends. A lot of the film is about what these two get up to along with a few other boys at Borstal, and how Brendan changes during that time. They try to break out of the place, and it costs...
I had good expectations from this film. The premise sounded promising of 2 close friends who are separated in childhood and they meet back in adulthood but according to me the film just lost it somewhere in the middle. The whole thing of going to Africa carving a place for their love was totally not needed. Raymond and Tagbo meet when they are eight and who are from totally different worlds. Raymond or Rag is from a single parent West Indian home and Tagbo or Tag is the only child of middle class Nigerian folks. The two have been inseparable until the teen years when social services takes Rag away and he has to move. Ten years later, Rag comes back to find Tag and they see that they still want to be together. They are now both 23 and their friendship has changed as well as their personalities. Tag is finishing law school and having a rough time finding a position. Tag has a girlfriend who is white but she is not good enough for his parents. Rag realizes that he does not stand a chance with Tag but he still wants his man. Rag sees even less room for himself in Tag's life when Tag's friend Olisa flies into London. Young, rich and shady, Rag knows Olisa is trouble. When Rag and Tag are invited to Nigeria for Olisa's Chieftaincy ceremony, Rag is determined to save Tag from his machinations.
As expected the film ends on a positive note when both men realize how much they need each other
The film is quite bold and genuine but the movie suffers from poor direction and editing. The performances are good but the film has large gaps in it and the characters and some of the ideas are not fully developed. I was enjoying the film but then it started dragging to an extent that it never recovered.
This one can totally be a miss. A great opportunity lost. (2/10)
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