Review of Mr. Turner (2014) by Leon B — 28 Feb 2015

Review:

After spending over 2 hours watching this film, I can honestly say that I didn't really learn that much about this great artist and the mind behind his work. The film is based around his day to day life before his sad passing, but you don't really get to see much of his work or get any explanation why he painted the way he did. I personally was quite disappointed in the film, on this aspect, but you can't fault Timothy Spall's excellent performance. His constant grunting and weird expressions were very well portrayed but the film is very one toned and in some ways, quite boring. I loved the relationship between Turner and his father and his new found love, which was kept pretty quiet, but it seemed to jump from one scene to another which spoilt the flow of the movie. Like most English period dramas about rich people, it was extremely pompous in parts and I didn't understand what they were going on about in some scenes but I liked the relationship between Turner and Mrs. Booth and there are a couple of emotional scenes which were very well performed. Average!

Round-Up:

The director portrayed the time period well in this film and the costumes and various relationships were interesting but I still struggled to stay awake through the whole film. I was waiting for something major to happen, which it doesn't and the glum soundtrack didn't help. Timothy Spall, who starred in the Harry Potter franchise, Lemony Snicket and Sweeny Todd, won a best actors award at Canne for his great portrayal of Mr. Turner, which was well deserved, but the director failed to make the movie interesting. Basically, it's the performances that made the movie slightly watchable but the content was boring.

Budget: $8.4million.

Worldwide Gross: $16.7million.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their biopics about the artist, J.M.W. Turner and the last 26 years of his life. 4/10.