A Home At The End Of The World

Saw a moving, intimate movie about an unusual love triangle set across three decades - the 60s, 70s and 80s: Bobby (Colin Farrell) is a sweet and innocent young man in love with both his gay best friend Jonathan (Dallas Roberts) and Jonathan's older kooky flatmate Clare (Robin Wright Penn). The three form an "alternative" family unit and move out to the country to raise Bobby and Clare's baby. There, they predictably discover alternative families have their own dysfunctions.

This is the first Farrell movie I've seen though I'm fully aware he usually plays action hero roles. But I would never have guessed from this film. Despite his character being innocent to the point of irritation, his performance is subtle, nuanced and tender - his face and body expresses every painful and glorious emotion, from sexual desire through excruciating shyness to exuberant glee.

My quibble with the film is that it is too short. It spends so much time charting the childhood friendship of Bobby and Jonathan, that there is little exploration of the intensification of their adult relationship both with one another and with Clare. All sets of relationships remain elusive. The result is a movie full of story but thin on detail.

Michael Cunningham, who wrote the wonderful The Hours, adapted this screenplay from his own novel of the same name, which I'm now going to rush out and buy.

Reviews:
+ BBC: "Soulful performances from Farrell, Sissy Spacek and newcomer Dallas Roberts make this a rich and emotionally rewarding experience. You'll find a mature, heartfelt and intimate piece that, if nothing else, shows what an impressive performer Farrell can be when he stops hell-raising long enough to focus on the job at hand."
+ New York Times (reg. req.): "Mr. Cunningham has turned a delicate novel into a bland and clumsy film. It is so thoroughly decent in its intentions and so tactful in its methods that people are likely to persuade themselves that it's better than it is, which is not very good."

Other links today:
+ "Yasser Arafat is being flown back to Palestine wearing a Newcastle shirt, Spurs shorts & Rangers socks. He wanted to be buried in the Gazza Strip." Popbitch's response to Arafat's death today.
+ How can blogs possibly influence world politics when most bloggers don't leave their bedrooms? Answer: a very few, key political, middle-class, white and male bloggers exert formidable agenda-setting power on mainstream media. However, the revolution will not be blogged. Excellent article from Foreign Policy Journal.
+ Histories and influences of Asian cinema. "Check out the latest US movie production slate and it is hard to escape the conclusion that Hollywood is turning Japanese. And Korean. With a dash of Thai and Hong Kong thrown in."