Review of Cemetery Junction (2010) by Scott M — 05 Dec 2010

This is a wonderful coming of both age & identity story that finds an exquisitely subtle, original-feeling blend between the nostalgia and the characters. The plot is barely worth recounting, as it's largely irrelevant (apart from being done numerous times before).

This film was all about tone, which it absolutely aced. The note-perfect performances were aided by surefire direction - the gorgeous, languorous pacing gave both the characters and themes room to breathe.

The editing was perfectly in tune with the direction (the flashed-up photos during the club scene near the end were handled incredibly deftly). After mastering TV it's only fitting that Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais show that they can master film as well.

The Invention of Lying was oddly better than maybe it should have been, but the strength of this material was its perfectly conveyed Britishness, so maybe this side of the Atlantic suits them better? Utterly killer soundtrack to boot.