This one's a beautiful, tender, quiet romantic drama with a moody atmosphere, set in a tight knit Welsh fishing community. It's a touching story about a man waking up sexually in the middle of his life, and how he, his family, and everyone around him deal with it, which makes it emotional and sentimental without ever getting over the top. The slow burn plays out against a landscape that's as bleak as it is gorgeous, where quiet, closed off men are stuck inside rigid ideas of what masculinity should be. Some people might be reminded of "God's Own Country," but I think both films are lovely in their own way. Jack is a middle aged guy who co-owns a mussel farm with his rough around the edges brother Dyfan, and the tension between the two of them is simmering under the surface right from the start. Dyfan's three sons all help out with the work, while Jack's sulky teenage son Tom keeps skipping out. Jack's been with his wife since they were both 16, and...
Bob, a man in mid-30’s is a successful party planner and is doing well for himself but he is not too happy. He is very conscious of how he looks and believing that no one could ever fall in love with him. A thought that would soon change, when he meets a chef Andrew Darcy at one of the parties that Bob has planned. Andrew is not only good looking but is also nice guy, level-headed and is very curious about Bob. Because of his own insecurities, Bob cannot fathom why someone like Andy would be interested in him. He just fails to see that a hot man can also look something beyond physical appearances (as hard as it is to believe). Subsquent scenes follow, which follow the pattern of Bob self-loafing and wondering why Andy is with him and doubting and suspecting on Andy. The paranoia of maybe he broke up with Bob o maybe he set with someone else, just doesn’t leave him. His gym rat best buddies (stereotypical gay queens) and his once upon time pin-up-model mother doesn’t help much. Andrew can’t take it anymore when Bob accuses him of cheating, only to be seen that it is Bob who ends up cheating on Andy. The misunderstandings are ultimately cleared but Andy makes it clear that it doesn’t man they are back together. They will have to start from beginning at a place where Bob will have to love himself, be confident about himself and then appreciate having someone like Andy in his life.
A lot of things and characters do not make sense; but do we really care? Bob’s fabulous friends, the gay couple, are amazingly supportive of him but why the change is heart (or it seems like) when Bob actually finds Andy in life. Th mother’s character is funny but it is a two-dimensional character that contributes nothing useful to the story at all. Bob acts well but he seems to have this tired worn-out expressions on his face most of the time. The film has some forced and awkward moments like Andy recognising Bob’s mother. Another problem is that the film doesn’t have a smooth flow. It just moves form point A to B. Having said all that, the film is not bad. It doesn’t become boring at any point and the length of the film is just right to keep the interest alive. For whatever reason, the film is shot 80% at night time or in dark rooms, which I found was very disturbing, at least to me.
Nothing extraordinary about this film. I was expecting much worse somehow because of the cheesy title but it was strictly time-pass. (5/10)
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