Only one cinematic outing for me last week and, feeling tolerant (partly because it was a teatime screening so did not cut into the evening), I went to see "Their Finest". Now, I am a total snob when it comes to this kind of film - I call them "chocolate box" films, with all that I hate about cynical pandering British film-making seemingly designed to sell some bucolic faux-nostalgic quaint notion of "funny Brits" to a global market. Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, that kind of thing. And guess what, this one has Bill Nighy trotting out his tired old "whooo, whaaaaey, quirky old bloke, waoooow" thing yet again.
However, I did like director Lone Scherfig's "An Education" and I felt generous on Tuesday.
I give this film 7/10. In a different mood perhaps I would score it lower. Apart from one genuinely unexpected incident in the story, it absolutely follows a basic formula for these feelgood "look at the funny eccentric Brits in the 1940s" nostalgia-theme-park films, and on top of that it layers on every cliche and every predictable bit of plotting and characterisation imaginable.
Yet it has a witty screenplay and likeable performances, so it would be curmudgeonly of me to be mean about it.
It loses points for various things but the most jarring bit was its uneven handling of a gay character, it was hard to see what they were trying with that. Guessing at an undeveloped bit of screenwriting.
