I've felt that Rupert Grint has a lot of promise from that role by which everyone knows him. So even though I had never heard of this film before, when it appeared in my cable TV listings, I immediately switched to that channel. I am so happy that I did!
I've read from other reviewers that they don't generally like coming of age stories; I on the other hand quite do. I am one of those who is always coming of age; I have been since I was 12, I'm 52 now, and I will probably continue until I'm 92. Coming of age is nothing more than suddenly realizing the possibilities that another day brings. The suddenness of the realization, the magnitude of it, sometimes throws us into disarray. If we try to shelter our delicate selves from that, then yes, I can see how the coming of age can end. But if we simply dust ourselves off, and settle into the new direction we've discovered, then we're all of a sudden on a new path, and we're just as alive as we were yesterday, only stronger, brighter, and I daresay, more interesting.
So that's what this movie was about. This was a coming of age story all the way round; young Ben, his father, Father Robert, and certainly Dame Evie... all went through a marvelous transformation. In fact, so too did Mr. Fincham, didn't he?! All did, I suspect, except in fact the mother, in spite of her enormous opportunity so to do, provided by the events of the end of the film. One is left with the feeling that she will continue on exactly the same path she's been on, only with perhaps a different supporting cast.
So an excellent film, that could not possibly have been made in America, which is utterly depressing to think about, but thank God we have a steady supply of films made elsewhere that we occasionally get to see. I really heartily recommend this film, so long as you don't mind cringing through those parts of it that are all too familiar to us all, and grinning through all the rest of it.
I've read from other reviewers that they don't generally like coming of age stories; I on the other hand quite do. I am one of those who is always coming of age; I have been since I was 12, I'm 52 now, and I will probably continue until I'm 92. Coming of age is nothing more than suddenly realizing the possibilities that another day brings. The suddenness of the realization, the magnitude of it, sometimes throws us into disarray. If we try to shelter our delicate selves from that, then yes, I can see how the coming of age can end. But if we simply dust ourselves off, and settle into the new direction we've discovered, then we're all of a sudden on a new path, and we're just as alive as we were yesterday, only stronger, brighter, and I daresay, more interesting.
So that's what this movie was about. This was a coming of age story all the way round; young Ben, his father, Father Robert, and certainly Dame Evie... all went through a marvelous transformation. In fact, so too did Mr. Fincham, didn't he?! All did, I suspect, except in fact the mother, in spite of her enormous opportunity so to do, provided by the events of the end of the film. One is left with the feeling that she will continue on exactly the same path she's been on, only with perhaps a different supporting cast.
So an excellent film, that could not possibly have been made in America, which is utterly depressing to think about, but thank God we have a steady supply of films made elsewhere that we occasionally get to see. I really heartily recommend this film, so long as you don't mind cringing through those parts of it that are all too familiar to us all, and grinning through all the rest of it.