Dir.
Woody Allen, USA/UK/France, 2007, 108 mins
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell, Tom Wilkinson
Review by Carol Allen
Although best loved for his comedy films, Allen has always,
he says, "been as interested in the tragic side of life
as the comic" and there have been times when he's succeeded
in handling the serious as well as the funny, most notably
in Hannah and Her Sisters as well as Crimes and Misdemeanours
and Husbands and Wives. This is, however, not one of those
occasions.
McGregor and Farrell play brothers
Ian and Terry, whose dream is to own the expensive yacht
of the title. Ian works in the family's restaurant and
is a bit of a flash Harry, trying to impress a young actress
Angela (Hayley Atwell), whom he's recently met. Terry works
in a garage and has a steady girlfriend (Sally Hawkins)
and a bad gambling habit. So they both need money. The
family ethos is "family
is family – protect your own". So when their Uncle
Howard (Wilkinson), who is constantly held up to the boys
as the epitome of success by their mum, unexpectedly turns
up, they turn to him for help. But Uncle Howard wants something
in return – for them to bump off the rat like Martin
Burns (Phil Davis), who is blackmailing him.
The film's actually not that bad up until this point. It
has a strong cast, which also includes the ever reliable
Clare Higgins as the mother and Farrell is rather good as
twitchy gambling addict Terry, who loses his nerve when it
comes to the crunch. But not even the brilliant Tom Wilkinson
can make Howard and the murder plot convincing. The whole
thing starts to unravel the minute he comes on the scene.
McGregor has a good stab at playing a bad boy for a change,
but his relationship with Atwell, who has to manage the difficult
task of changing character from manipulative little madam
to girl in love, is not a comfortable one to watch. Although
the actress is actually in her mid-20s, she looks so much
younger than him that it makes even the lovely Ewan start
to appear middle aged. In spite of good performances, the
story, dialogue and characterisations are all a bit run of
the mill and this could certainly not be classed as a tragedy.
It comes over more as a second rate thriller without much
in the way of thrills.
This is Allen's third film set in London and at least unlike
Match Point it doesn't strain to get all the tourist sights
in. The locations are actually well used and chosen. But
one of the reasons why it rings so untrue is that he doesn't
appear to have any understanding of Londoners and what makes
us tick, as opposed to the wit, perception and dry compassion
he showed for his New York characters in his best work. This
third London movie also yet again features a murdering Brit.
Maybe he thinks Agatha Christie is the epitome of the British
character?
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