Review of 45 Years (2015) by Matt C — 24 Apr 2018

Movies don't need to be grandiose. They don't need characters to verbalize every emotion or have people fight to demonstrate their thoughts, and they don't need to be treated in any sort of idealized way.

45 Years is refreshing in how it paints these two 60-something-year-old people about to celebrate their 45th anniversary: they talk, they have nostalgic moments, they don't scream, they have sex, and they know each other almost as much as they know themselves.

Thanks to two great performances from Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay and Andrew Haigh's sympathetic, understated direction, 45 Years overcomes its brief pacing issues. Now, this is a very slow movie.

I had prepared a bad joke like "45 Years feels 45 years long" or something, but that isn't the case. A majority of the movie takes place in their farmhouse in the English country, and the pacing is as meditative as the characters' reflections on their marriage are.

Rampling is by far the strongest link here, her character communicating her insecurities and inner thoughts with the swat of an eye, the turn of her neck, the way that her gait changes. No spoilers here, but the third act sees her mainly reacting to events and dialogue around her, and it really does stick with you, as she makes her characters arc ambiguous and a little melancholic.

Courtenay also does very good work, but admittedly, this is kind of The Charlotte Rampling Show. As mentioned before, Haigh's script--and his direction--is so realistic in both the dialogue and how it never feels the need to treat its characters differently just because they're senior citizens, a trait that so many movies undermine their older characters through.

The movie also makes very good use of ambient sound, such a a clicking projector or a clock by a shopping center. The only real issue with 45 Years is that its pacing does become more and more evident.

The movie begins to drag towards the end of the second act for about ten minutes, and when it drags, it really drags. The movie kind of comes to a grinding halt about 65 minutes in or so. Other than that, I can't really name as concrete issues with the movie--it simply didn't blow my mind, probably because I'm 19 years old.

So while it may not stick with me for months to come, 45 Years is still a brilliantly acted and mostly well paced drama that only makes one glaring slip up towards the end. If Brie Larson doesn't win Best Actress for Room, then Rampling is definitely my second choice.

8.1/10, really good, one thumb up, above average, etc.