Review of A Field in England (2013) by James S — 20 Aug 2013

I've been burnt by Ben Wheatley's films in the past. Intrigued by the glowing praise that seemed heaped upon Kill List, I shelled out my money to see it upon release only to be rewarded with one of the most appalling films I have ever seen, a film which made shake with anger to my very core.

Then came Sightseers, which turned out to be rather delightful. Perhaps I'd misjudged this Mr Wheatley I said to myself.

So how did things go when it came to the decider, A Field in England?

Well, it didn't leave me consumed in fury at the director for wasting my time with such a shockingly terrible film, but it came close.

Set in the civil war, or possibly in the present day with a bunch of over enthusiastic cos-players, AFIE tells the weird tale of some blokes in a field (Yes!) looking for something in the ground for a dude who seems very heavy and might be dead.

Reece Shearsmith stands out in the cast as the film is his characters journey. To where, I'm not quite sure. I'm going with nowhere though. The dialogue occasionally raises a giggle or two for it's Men Behaving Badly style humour that seems a amiss with the time period setting but it's not nearly as clever as watching Horrible Histories or a Blackadder repeat. The cinematography is accomplished so at time the film looks quite nice.

None of this can really disguise the fact though that this is a horrendous mess. It's like one of those films that students make and then say "it's avant garde" as an excuse for it not really making sense or being any good. It looks like a film that is completely out of control and that is not the sign of a good director, it's the sign of one who maybe started something, got a bit bored and then stopped caring about it.

It would seem that Sightseers success was more to do with the actors characterisations rather than the hand of the man behind the camera if this is anything to go by. At the end of the day, this is not a good film, made by a man who has now proven he is an average talent at best, and that's when he has considerable help.