Review of A Single Man (2009) by Mikey M — 30 May 2011

Definitely worth seeing, but for some reason I found it to be a bit flat - probably because it was interspersed with flat scenes. Firth's performance is excellent and the role was a dream for any actor, but the filmmakers decided to hem the character in with two completely unnecessary bits of voice-over at the beginning and end. There were good scenes in here, but at no point did I feel particularly moved, worried, apprehensive or humoured as the male gaze was left to run riot. The fading/saturation of colour motif didn't really work for me either and to use a cliche, this film was style over content. The real drama came in the form of the gun 'hook' and the tension(?) that this distinguished gent might lose it and go on a killing spree - but that all seemed a bit hammed up in an effort to lift this story. Fundamentally, this film is about a gay man who has a broken heart and searches for the meaning in his life. I'm not sure the marketers or filmmakers were really that confident in what they were creating though and it has kinda been sold on the extravagant slow mo of Firth pointing his hand like a gun; while the poster looks like a tragic love story. The order of the edit in the beginning felt a little wrong for me too, but again I think that was down to not being wholly secure in the story they had. It didn't feel like it had a clearly defined beginning, middle and end and that really was a huge problem for me.

It was like one of those lonely two hour drives that was all motorway. My mind wandered a bit because the road lacked corners, undulations and other traffic - though I did pass some beautiful scenery along the way. Then when asked; "How was your drive?" I replied; "it was good. How are you?".