|
SYNOPSIS: A
wry comedy about ART, a frustrated musician, undergoing what
he sees as a quarter life crisis. This is not helped when
his girlfriend dumps him and he has to move back in with his
middle class parents ? who are far from thrilled with the
idea.
Art’s only friend, agoraphobic RONNY, has his own problems.
Holed up in a London flat in a daze of nitrous oxide and electro
music, Ronny wants to start a band with Art and happy-go-lucky
friend NIKKI, but only if it involves going no further afield
than the flat’s roof garden.
Art discovers self-help guru, DR LEVI ELLINGTON, author of
It’s Not Your Fault. Using inheritance money, Art pays
for Dr Ellington to move in with him and his parents becoming
Art’s full-time life coach, shadowing him wherever he
goes.
Art’s painfully funny journey to define his existence
brings to the fore the dysfunctional relationship he has with
his parents and the importance in his life of his oddball
friends. Rich in detail and dark yet affectionate humour,
How To Be is a timely look at the increasingly common phenomena
of grown-up children living at home, frustrated creativity
and self-help.
MOVIE
REVIEW:
Team Edward, this one is for you. For once, this reviewer can actually commend Robert Pattionson (cue those screams) for his laudable performance as an, get ready now: a-c-t-o-r. Yes, you got us right, the pale faced one actually shows us that he can put up a proper performance in a film. Of course, while we acknowledge the fact that the release of this backdated DVD is an attempt by the distributors to milk some cash from the die hard Pattinson fans, we will disregard that and review this movie proper.
Here’s something alternative to the “oh so boring” vampire love story which most people associate Pattinson with. Here, he plays a young man who realises that he must do something about his music career if he doesn’t want to end up being depressed for the rest of his life. Along comes this book titled “It’s Not Your Fault”, and before we can realise what the contents of the book are about, we see the authour of the book coming to our protagonist’s house to live with him and his family.
How’s that for an almost existentialist plot? The quirkiness and eccentricity of the script is what makes this film shine. Amidst the hustles and bustles we city folks are used to, it’s nice to see something to see a youngster’s dysfunctional journey about growing up. That is also probably the problem if you walk away feeling somewhat awkward with what you have just watched. The independent production may not be for everyone, especially if you are not into dry British humour and unconventional plot developments.
This 85 minute movie is filled with one liner moments which may be a hit or miss with viewers, depending on your taste. The soundtrack featuring independent acts like Love, Captain Beefheart and The Roches would impress the edgier audience. And fans of Pattinson would be glad to hear him croon a number of tunes in the movie. So what if he perpetually flashes a silly grin and sports a floppy hairpiece which isn’t exactly what you expect from a heartthrob?
This is why we enjoy Pattinson like that (no, after three movies, we are still not impressed with Edward Cullen’s swishy washy attitude), because he shows that he has some flair to pull off an offbeat character like this one. The judges at Strasbourg International Film Festival even awarded him with a “Best Actor in a Feature” accolade some two years ago. His engaging performance here is complemented by Rebecca Pidgeon and Michael Irving (as his neglectful parents), Mike Pearce and Johnny White (as his equally odd friends) and Powell Jones (who pulls off a rib tickling performance as the Canadian authour who penned the therapeutic book).
Really, we urge you to put those Twilight DVDs aside and take a look at this one – it will be worth your time if you are willing to indulge yourself in something different.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
Nil
AUDIO/VISUAL:
We do not have any complaints about visual transfer of the movie. It is presented English Dolby Digital 2.0.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
Posted on 15 August 2010
|
