Review of Cemetery Junction (2010) by Andrew H — 23 Apr 2010

Cemetery Junction is a fantastic slice of feel good nostalgia peppered with likable characters, heartfelt performances, top notch drama and a few good laughs.

Gervais and Merchant aficionados like myself will likely pick up on subtle banter between the friends which could have been lifted straight from a Tim/Gareth/Dawn or Andy/Maggie scene from The Office or Extras. The pair have always been able to capture deeply emotional and real relationships between characters and this is no exception. That said, anyone not a fan of theirs should still find something in this wee gem of a film.

It was refreshing seeing Britain and its youth portrayed in a idealistic manner considering we are usually subjected to films about how our younger generations are thugs and hooligans (take Harry Brown or even Trainspotting for example). Picturesque visions of small towns are also generally reserved for American cinema but some fantastic direction from the duo really made Reading seem like a nice, if not dead end, place to live.

And Karl Pilkington's split second cameo may well be the greatest moment in the history of cinema.