A Long Way Down On New Year’s Eve four people from very different walks of life find themselves together on the roof of Toppers Building, a notorious suicide spot. There’s; Martin (Pierce Brosnan), famous but toppled by a sex scandal; Maureen (Toni Colette), a mother with a severely disabled son; Jess (Imogen Poots), heartbroken after a breakup; and JJ (Aaron Paul), an American musician with brain cancer. After much humorous discussion, they come to the decision that they will delay their impending deaths until Valentine’s Day, offering each other emotional support in an attempt to make suicide unnecessary. When the press finds out about their pact, they escape to Tenerife where things don’t go at all well and so they return to their lives and go their separate ways – kind of. Yep, this one’s definitely treacly— and maudlin— and doesn’t have much depth. What it does have though, is a stellar cast (even the cameos are stellar: Rosamund Pike, Sam O’Neill and Tuppence Middleton) some good old British dark humour and enough heartwarming, human connection moments to make it enjoyable—although you are left pondering why such great acting is not supported by a much better script.
Imagine Me And You As Rachel (Piper Perabo) is walking down the aisle towards her about-to-be husband Heck (Matthew Goode), she makes momentary eye contact with Luce (Lena Hedy), the wedding’s florist, and feels an instant attraction. The two become friends, which blossoms into a little more and before you know it an uncomfortable romantic triangle has emerged. Except it’s not too uncomfortable, because Heck is just sooooo nice. It’s a completely predictable script but it is, once again, held up by a strong cast (personally I’ll watch Matthew Goode in anything). It’s also set in a picture perfect London with an adorable florist’s shop and lovely houses, which makes it all just too charming for words. Cozy and gentle with a side of mischievous humor.
Love Sarah In the opening scene Sarah is tragically killed on her way to the storefront that she was planning on turning into a bakery with friend, Isabella. Now Isabella is stuck with a lease she can’t afford with no way of turning their dream into reality because Sarah was the real inspiration. Meanwhile, Sarah’s nineteen year old daughter, aspiring ballerina Clarissa, breaks up with her boyfriend amidst her grief and turns to her prickly grandmother, Mimi, (who was estranged from Sarah) for a place to stay. When Isabella is on the verge of handing over the store front keys to a guy who plans to open up a wine bar, Clarissa realizes that they have to bring her mum’s dream to fruition. So all three women, Isabella, Mimi and Clarissa come together, for better or worse, to make it happen. The rundown storefront is magically transformed into an adorable bakery, and on the doorstep appears Matthew, former culinary school classmate of Sarah and Isabella, who has ditched his Michelin starred restaurant job to be a pastry chef at the Love Sarah bakery. There are, of course, a couple of sub-plots and a romance (or two) which play out against the beautiful backdrop of delicious pastries. Rife with tropes, perhaps, but perfect for an afternoon when dealing with the realities of life is just not an option.
Summerland Gemma Arterton plays Alice Lamb, a crotchety, reclusive writer who is none too happy to discover that she must take in an evacuee during WWII. She kicks ups a nice old fuss but cute and precocious Frank, as you can only imagine, gradually wins her over. Meanwhile, via flashbacks, we learn of Alice’s forbidden romance back in the twenties, with beautiful flapper Vera – a romance cut short when Vera decided to choose marriage and children over Alice, which goes some way to explaining Alice’s dislike of the little monsters. “Summerland” of the title refers to a type of heaven of pagan mythology, which, due to a trick of the light can sometimes be seen as a floating paradise in the clouds. It is this, and Alice’s love of paganism and mythology which helps provide a bridge drawing Alice and Frank together. The film is about an inch deep and a mile wide and a ridiculously treacly plot twist brings it all to a conclusion, but it’s sweet and heartwarming in its study of grief and war. It’s also set in an idyllic village on the south coast of England providing plenty of ethereal shots of the White Cliffs of Dover and beautiful summertime picnics and sunsets.