Review of Cemetery Junction (2010) by Daniel F — 24 Apr 2010

This quaint nostalgic trip down memory lane is a solid foundation for the directorial debut of Gervais and Merchant. The dialogue does not stray too far from the comedic material that made the pair iconic and has side-splitting exchanges of banter.

Christian Cooke (Freddie) and Tom Hughes (Bruce) both emerge as rising British talents. The peril of Freddie being trapped in a nowhere town, struggling to break free from his socio-economic confinements is hard to believe at times. Many people would strive to live in the picturesque background the movie is set in. Bruce and Snork (Jack Doolan) have so much to offer as Freddie's stooges and the film perfectly catches the remoteness of British thinking at the time.

Ralph Fiennes brings his dominating onscreen presence to the movie, as rags to riches finance chief and Matthew Goode once again excels in a role that is no doubt too small for an individual with a great amount of talent.

This British movie is notably different from the current gritty crop of British urban dramas. A more studio driven piece of work follows carefully along the genre format, but none the less delivers a fine piece of boy meets girl work.

What Gervais himself is promoting as part biopic Cemetery Junction may be the feel good movie of the year but not one that will linger in the mind for too long.