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...
After the police department is criticized for failing to solve the murder of a gay man, the Chief assigns the clichéd manly Detective Sergeant Benson to go undercover with the gay desk officer, Kerwin. Kerwin naively believes that he is closeted, although the entire Department knows about his sexual identity. Naturally, this means that the two will spend the remainder of the film bonding with each other, while tracking down clues about the killer. For the most part, Benson works through his homophobia by uttering homophobic remarks whenever he gets angry and having sex with lots of women, while Kerwin cooks and does the laundry for both of them. Soon using multiple clues, in their own way, the two men are able to find enough clues, but a woman Jill's love blindsight Benson. Its through Kerwin's eventual jealousy/ fast thinking the killers is finally nabbed.
This is a dramatic romance that veers into comedy, and a central mystery most likely to provoke yawns. The film doesn't take itself too seriously in any department, be it thriller or comedy and that makes it weird to watch. The whole relationship that develops between the two men feels not like partners. Kerwin is there is cook, clean and do the chores while Benson just enjoys the attention while using a homophobic slur whenever he can and wishes. Only a handful of times, he shows any respect or understanding of the whole gay community, but even then he says things like "Now, I understand how women must feel". Also, I am not sure what Benson's character morality was like. He is shown to have a girlfriend but happily jumps with 2 different girls when found an opportunity. So, it's not just the homophobia but morality aspect as well. The search for the killer is the only saving grace of the film.
This film feels too rushed with the laziness of the writing and directing sinking the idea almost completely. Sniggering jokes, embarrassing and half-hearted sentiment, with just a decent murder crime mystery makes this film slightly below average. (4.5/10)
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