Film Rec: Stuart, A life backwards.
Mizzy, don't read this. PM me your snail mail addy and I'll get the dvd to you. ;)
I honestly thought this film would break me, and yet I laughed almost all of the way through it. And I mean proper, burst-out-laughing.
It's the film of the true story of homeless man, Stuart Shorter (Tom Hardy), told through the eyes of his biographist, Alexander Masters (Benedict Cumberbatch). It should be fairly obvious why I came to watch this film. I'm shallow and I stalk actors I like, especially when they meet in a single feature. On that basis, I'm not going to comment on the acting at all.
It was always going to be brutal; the man was an alcoholic, heroin addict, class 1 offender and he had muscular dystrophy. This was going to a break-you-down film. I didn't expect it to be funny, approachable and so emotionally varied. The one part where I was truly uncomfortable - and I mean to the point where I wanted to walk away - was not Stuart's fault, it was Alexander's.
Stuart is not the character I expected him to be. And I think that's probably the point of the film. I came in with preconceptions. Even knowing I was going to have to challenge them, I did it anyway. That kind of storytelling is... just so phenomenal.
Watch it. Brace yourself for what you know is coming, and enjoy everything you don't expect.
You will not regret it.
I honestly thought this film would break me, and yet I laughed almost all of the way through it. And I mean proper, burst-out-laughing.
It's the film of the true story of homeless man, Stuart Shorter (Tom Hardy), told through the eyes of his biographist, Alexander Masters (Benedict Cumberbatch). It should be fairly obvious why I came to watch this film. I'm shallow and I stalk actors I like, especially when they meet in a single feature. On that basis, I'm not going to comment on the acting at all.
It was always going to be brutal; the man was an alcoholic, heroin addict, class 1 offender and he had muscular dystrophy. This was going to a break-you-down film. I didn't expect it to be funny, approachable and so emotionally varied. The one part where I was truly uncomfortable - and I mean to the point where I wanted to walk away - was not Stuart's fault, it was Alexander's.
Stuart is not the character I expected him to be. And I think that's probably the point of the film. I came in with preconceptions. Even knowing I was going to have to challenge them, I did it anyway. That kind of storytelling is... just so phenomenal.
Watch it. Brace yourself for what you know is coming, and enjoy everything you don't expect.
You will not regret it.