Postman Eric is pretty much at the end of his tether. His partner has not come back home despite her being released from prison over two months ago, leaving him looking after two teenage stepsons, neither of whom respect him or listen to him and appear to be heading down the wrong road in life. His own daughter Sam needs help with her own daughter and asks Eric to get in touch with her mother Lily, who Eric left as a young single mother. The pressures from all sides are clear to even his colleagues, who to their credit do attempt to help him. Rather than talk to himself, Eric confides in a poster of his idol, Eric Cantona only to find that the man himself appears in his room. With sage input from Cantona, Eric attempts to put his life in order while the external forces threaten to tear it apart.
A strange film from Ken Loach this and one that doesn't ever really work as well as certain parts of it do or as well as the idea makes it sound like it should. As a film it is rather fragmented both in terms of tone and narrative and it is shame that the two could not have been brought together in a more effective manner. The first half of the film spends its time mostly focused very much on the mental state of Eric and, although some have said this part is dull I actually found it to be pretty engaging and clever. The importance of sport in the world of men (particularly working class men – sorry if that sounds snobby) should not be overlooked and I thought that the film had potential by using Cantona as a sounding board for Eric to work out his problems in a way that is made easier by virtue of his idol taking him mentally into that world where it is OK to let it all out, OK to cry, OK to be oneself – the world of the terraces as he describes them. This doesn't really happen though although it is close enough to that to keep it interesting and the passion of the football discussions does add a nice contrast to the reality of Eric's life.
In the second half of the film a discovery starts a specific dramatic thread and it makes for a sudden change in the tone of the film – one that is most noticeable because the script becomes the F word for long sections. This rather gritty and violent dose of reality clashes with the fantasy of the first half and, while they are still linked I didn't think that they were linked well enough in terms of the tone and feel of the film. It is a shame because the second half does work and it does lead to a rather uplifting conclusion but even this doesn't quite fit into the thread that it concludes. I'm not describing it very well but the overall impression I'm trying to land is that the film has plenty of good ideas and isn't "bad" so much as it just has a lot of potential that goes unrealised.
Cantona may be the name that draws the eye but Evets does very well in the lead role. He makes a very convincing character with all of his performance and if the material had been there with him, his performance would have been a big part of the film being consistent – as it is he cannot do it alone. Cantona is an enigmatic presence and, although hard to understand sometimes, this is what he brings to the film and he works very well with Evets as the solid, thoughtful sounding board of reason – again the material just doesn't seem to let their scenes have the meaning and impact that they could have done. The supporting cast are understandably outside of the main scenes but there are still good performances from Bishop, Kearns, Gumbs, Hudson as well as older hands like Henshaw and a few others.
Overall Looking for Eric is an engaging but frustrating experience. It is engaging because of the potential inherent in the ideas and the narrative, however it is also frustrating because not all that potential is realised and the delivery seems disjointed and rather uneven in terms of tone and substance. Interesting enough and good enough to take a look but it is not the film it deserved to be and is not one of Loach's or Laverty's better films.
A strange film from Ken Loach this and one that doesn't ever really work as well as certain parts of it do or as well as the idea makes it sound like it should. As a film it is rather fragmented both in terms of tone and narrative and it is shame that the two could not have been brought together in a more effective manner. The first half of the film spends its time mostly focused very much on the mental state of Eric and, although some have said this part is dull I actually found it to be pretty engaging and clever. The importance of sport in the world of men (particularly working class men – sorry if that sounds snobby) should not be overlooked and I thought that the film had potential by using Cantona as a sounding board for Eric to work out his problems in a way that is made easier by virtue of his idol taking him mentally into that world where it is OK to let it all out, OK to cry, OK to be oneself – the world of the terraces as he describes them. This doesn't really happen though although it is close enough to that to keep it interesting and the passion of the football discussions does add a nice contrast to the reality of Eric's life.
In the second half of the film a discovery starts a specific dramatic thread and it makes for a sudden change in the tone of the film – one that is most noticeable because the script becomes the F word for long sections. This rather gritty and violent dose of reality clashes with the fantasy of the first half and, while they are still linked I didn't think that they were linked well enough in terms of the tone and feel of the film. It is a shame because the second half does work and it does lead to a rather uplifting conclusion but even this doesn't quite fit into the thread that it concludes. I'm not describing it very well but the overall impression I'm trying to land is that the film has plenty of good ideas and isn't "bad" so much as it just has a lot of potential that goes unrealised.
Cantona may be the name that draws the eye but Evets does very well in the lead role. He makes a very convincing character with all of his performance and if the material had been there with him, his performance would have been a big part of the film being consistent – as it is he cannot do it alone. Cantona is an enigmatic presence and, although hard to understand sometimes, this is what he brings to the film and he works very well with Evets as the solid, thoughtful sounding board of reason – again the material just doesn't seem to let their scenes have the meaning and impact that they could have done. The supporting cast are understandably outside of the main scenes but there are still good performances from Bishop, Kearns, Gumbs, Hudson as well as older hands like Henshaw and a few others.
Overall Looking for Eric is an engaging but frustrating experience. It is engaging because of the potential inherent in the ideas and the narrative, however it is also frustrating because not all that potential is realised and the delivery seems disjointed and rather uneven in terms of tone and substance. Interesting enough and good enough to take a look but it is not the film it deserved to be and is not one of Loach's or Laverty's better films.