Flashbacks of a Fool (2008)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Baillie Walsh

Writer:

Baillie Walsh (writer)

Release Date:

17 October 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A fading Hollywood star looks back at the days of his youth as he returns home from his best friend's funeral. |

Cast

Daniel Craig	...	Joe Scott
Harry Eden	...	Young Joe Scot
Eve	...	Ophelia Franklin
Miriam Karlin	...	Mrs. Rogers
Jodhi May	...	Evelyn Adams
Helen McCrory	...	Peggy Tickell
Olivia Williams	...	Grace Scott
Felicity Jones	...	Young Ruth Davies
Keeley Hawes	...	Jesse Scott
Sid Mitchell	...	Chillo
Alfie Allen	...	Kevin Hubble
Claire Forlani	...	Ruth Davies
Mark Strong	...	Mannie Miesel
James D'Arcy	...	Jack Adams
Annabel Linder	...	Dawn

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some drug use.

Runtime:

Greece:110 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Ireland:16 | UK:15 | USA:R | Brazil:16 | Taiwan:R-12 (original rating) | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Left Turn Films

Movie Connections:

References Ring of Bright Water (1969)

Soundtrack:

Mozart: 1 Regina Coeli, Laetare

Quite possibly my favourite movie of 2008 - A story told with heartfelt emotion

There's a saying I heard a long time ago... "The person that's got everything has nothing" and this movie kind of explains one way of looking at it (in my opinion).

In a materialistic influenced world we live in it can be easy to fall into how believing happiness and wellbeing comes only from having all the things wealth can bring i.e. the clean cut minimalist house walking out onto the white sand overlooking a beautiful serene sea, a selection of gleaming new sports cars, the tailored clothes etc etc. But I guess for some people who have reached this place/goal in their life have focused on the goal so much that they've forgotten where they've come from and what they may have been running from.

Now what this gem of a movie does is carefully and meticulously unravel the story of a troubled man in this very situation, dealing with the daemons of his past, the spontaneous difficult decisions he had to make as a boy which has carved this stone cold embodiment of a man on the edge of existence.

Now I'm not going to break down and dissect this film and give a whole rundown on how and why I think this is a great movie but I will say this. The story of a nasty main character (amazing job from both Daniel Craig and Harry Eden) and showing the world that he lives in and lived in by slowly letting the viewer past his metaphorical protective wall while allowing the viewer to piece together how and why he is the way he is, is presented exquisitely.

I don't want to give anything away on the plot and story but I have to say there where two parts that absolutely blew me away and I'll just give you a vague hint. One involving a shot of artwork with intention of displaying a contrast of relation between the background and foreground giving an artistic viewpoint on the real subject matter (works on so many levels) and the other being a close up shot which encapsulated a lot of emotion and made my heart just drop.

all in all the whole production was done well, especially the editing (even though it's obviously apparent they had some great content to work with) and did, for me, what all great stories do, kept me entertained through demanding my full attention and rewarding that attention in the form of an emotional roller-coaster.

Last note: please try not to second guess while trying to predict what's coming next and how it ends. Just enjoy the story that is being told because it's been executed very well.

PS: I would have given this a 10 but wanted other readers to take this review seriously as I do love the art of storytelling, especially a good movie and it's unfortunate that there's too many marketing teams pushing up star ratings here on IMDb.

Thanks for reading my first review and I hope you enjoy "Flashbacks of a Fool" as much as I did.