Maybe it's because I am an American living in the UK (four years now) and I have low expectations for British made films at this point, but I didn't think this was a bad movie at all! And I don't even like Catherine Tate! Well, I didn't, but I do now.
The movie is based on a true story, and I guess true stories can only only be funny incidentally. It does not have laugh out loud moments, but I didn't fast forward through any of it either. Catherine Tate is really lovely in this film, but then again, she is really the only truly filled out character in the movie. She's a put upon housewife and her struggle to remain in control of a household in a country where you can't even control your own wallpaper is amusing. My family was stationed in Germany in the seventies, and I think this film is a pretty light-hearted view of everything, really skimming over people being shot and led away, so it is hard to take it too seriously.
I think what is lacking in this movie is that, because it is based on facts, and although they ARE interesting facts, it tries to fit so much in that it cannot always give us enough of every character. Her daughters feel like caricatures, one like a child of the damned really, as does her husband, and even the Germans around them. Despite her brother having nearly no lines, he is a pretty solid character and I kept wanting to see more of him. Her neighbor is also very intriguing, although I wanted her to have a bit more screen time as well.
Part of the movie preview I saw, had it say that she wanted to save her children from a bleak future, but I don't feel that the children's future looked so bleak. The youngest one was involved in sports and winning lots of things, as well as joining in clubs. They make an attempt to show her as an outsider, but never go into detail. As for her older daughter, all she was doing in the UK was sleeping around, and she's still sleeping around, so I don't see the difference. She only seems to be miserable that she can't listen to the music she wants to. her clothes and hair don't change, and she was moody before. I think Mrs. Ratcliffe's main motive's for leaving are feeling useless, bored, and utterly depressed and frightened by the fact her neighbors keep disappearing. The final straw clearly is being spied on. I think she just doesn't want to live with the fear anymore. I think that should have been explored more. Catherine Tate does her best to express this with her face and her tone of voice, but no one wrote it for her in depth and so she can't act on it.
But for having oh, eight main characters, and a crazy sequence of events, I think the film does it's best. I only rented it, but I did watch it a second time before bringing it back. I wish they had made it darker so it would have been a real black comedy, but, like I said, it's not that bad!
The movie is based on a true story, and I guess true stories can only only be funny incidentally. It does not have laugh out loud moments, but I didn't fast forward through any of it either. Catherine Tate is really lovely in this film, but then again, she is really the only truly filled out character in the movie. She's a put upon housewife and her struggle to remain in control of a household in a country where you can't even control your own wallpaper is amusing. My family was stationed in Germany in the seventies, and I think this film is a pretty light-hearted view of everything, really skimming over people being shot and led away, so it is hard to take it too seriously.
I think what is lacking in this movie is that, because it is based on facts, and although they ARE interesting facts, it tries to fit so much in that it cannot always give us enough of every character. Her daughters feel like caricatures, one like a child of the damned really, as does her husband, and even the Germans around them. Despite her brother having nearly no lines, he is a pretty solid character and I kept wanting to see more of him. Her neighbor is also very intriguing, although I wanted her to have a bit more screen time as well.
Part of the movie preview I saw, had it say that she wanted to save her children from a bleak future, but I don't feel that the children's future looked so bleak. The youngest one was involved in sports and winning lots of things, as well as joining in clubs. They make an attempt to show her as an outsider, but never go into detail. As for her older daughter, all she was doing in the UK was sleeping around, and she's still sleeping around, so I don't see the difference. She only seems to be miserable that she can't listen to the music she wants to. her clothes and hair don't change, and she was moody before. I think Mrs. Ratcliffe's main motive's for leaving are feeling useless, bored, and utterly depressed and frightened by the fact her neighbors keep disappearing. The final straw clearly is being spied on. I think she just doesn't want to live with the fear anymore. I think that should have been explored more. Catherine Tate does her best to express this with her face and her tone of voice, but no one wrote it for her in depth and so she can't act on it.
But for having oh, eight main characters, and a crazy sequence of events, I think the film does it's best. I only rented it, but I did watch it a second time before bringing it back. I wish they had made it darker so it would have been a real black comedy, but, like I said, it's not that bad!