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Reviews
Little Children (2006)
Good, not great
Superbly acted, long but never dull,funny, affecting, but lacking in edge. It's main problem is the narration which is intrusive and largely unnecessary. It feels like the makers don't trust the intelligence of the audience. Still I did enjoy it. Kate Winslet again proves what a good actress she is and the rest of the cast are equal to or not far behind her. The panic at the swimming pool scene is brilliantly staged and the film as a whole is nicely understated. Unfortunately the ending is a bit of a cop out. Nothing is resolved between the main two characters and we are robbed of a final scene between the two of them by a far too convenient series of events. These provide the only false notes in the plot. A pity but I left the cinema with a lot to think about, something rare these days. It's not for the Saw 111 crowd but it does deserve to find an audience.
Nightingales (1990)
Gleefully daft series about three night security guards in an office building.
Probably the most underrated of channel 4's sit-coms. Superbly acted by the principles (especially David Threlfall). The reason it is not particularly well known is the stupid scheduling it received (after 11pm midweek), consequently not many people saw it. The surreal humour is not to everyones tastes so it's a case of love it or hate it. People who do love it really do love it. Somehow it manages to capture the slightly demented state of mind that night-workers tend to develop, the in-jokey humour and the flights of fantasy in their enclosed little world. Particularly recommended are the two werewolf episodes and the one with a gorilla called Trevor Oblong.
I wonder what Samuel Beckett is doing now?