It is very easy to overlook films such as Before You Go in favour of the more spectacular or well-known; and yet there is a real sense of having watched a film that you feel has not only touched you, but done you some actual good - and yet does not come across as overly 'worthy'.
Before You Go is a beautifully observed piece that drops you into the middle of a seemingly dysfunctional and estranged family coping with the early days of bereavement. As the film progresses the sense of diversity in the family shrinks and you are left with the feeling that far from being dysfunctional, this family is really no different from just about every family you've ever met including your own! Lewis Gilbert has done a superb job of turning a mirror on normal family life that seems extreme at first though frighteningly familiar by the end.
The performances from the entire cast are superb, and no character is wasted. Walters, Whalley and Hamilton are wonderfully convincing as the three sisters, with Hannah and Wilkinson also on fine form. The power-play between the 3 siblings is very effective. Walters' portrayal of the 'professionally health conscious' eldest sister who crumbles into the Irish Whisky at the first sign of stress is both touching and often very funny. Though I've always felt sorry for Joanne Whalley in being overlooked for parts with real depth, this for me is her finest piece of work yet. Her fight between being a confident,successful doctor and yet deep fragility in her personal life (typified by her boyfriend, the frankly gloriously unlikeable Hannah as a celeb TV doc) is subtle and well reined-in.
Despite the backdrop of preparing for their mother's funeral, there are many moments of laugh-out-loud humour and levity, and the often fraught emotional scenes are handled with no sense of sentimentalism.
Highly entertaining way to spend an evening!
Before You Go is a beautifully observed piece that drops you into the middle of a seemingly dysfunctional and estranged family coping with the early days of bereavement. As the film progresses the sense of diversity in the family shrinks and you are left with the feeling that far from being dysfunctional, this family is really no different from just about every family you've ever met including your own! Lewis Gilbert has done a superb job of turning a mirror on normal family life that seems extreme at first though frighteningly familiar by the end.
The performances from the entire cast are superb, and no character is wasted. Walters, Whalley and Hamilton are wonderfully convincing as the three sisters, with Hannah and Wilkinson also on fine form. The power-play between the 3 siblings is very effective. Walters' portrayal of the 'professionally health conscious' eldest sister who crumbles into the Irish Whisky at the first sign of stress is both touching and often very funny. Though I've always felt sorry for Joanne Whalley in being overlooked for parts with real depth, this for me is her finest piece of work yet. Her fight between being a confident,successful doctor and yet deep fragility in her personal life (typified by her boyfriend, the frankly gloriously unlikeable Hannah as a celeb TV doc) is subtle and well reined-in.
Despite the backdrop of preparing for their mother's funeral, there are many moments of laugh-out-loud humour and levity, and the often fraught emotional scenes are handled with no sense of sentimentalism.
Highly entertaining way to spend an evening!