| TEA AND SYMPATHY : short review of Mike Leigh's Vera Drake [6/10] |
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| Wednesday, 16 February 2005 | |
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Vera Drake is so well-acted - Oscar-touted Imelda Staunton is backed up by especially noteworthy work from Eddie Marsan, Sandra Voe and Ruth Sheen - and convincing in its period evocation, that many viewers will feel as though they too are enduring the duress suffered (in painful, perhaps exploitative, detail) by the title character in the second half of the film. These aspects - plus the fact that Leigh's heart is clearly in the right place - have been sufficiently strong that they have distracted the vast majority of critics from the glaring deficiencies in his script - which treats a complex (and, sadly, still topical) subject in a sloppy and often crude manner. Not for the first time, too many people are willing to bend over backwards in order to praise what they misperceive as "another" masterpiece from this interesting but persistently overrated film-maker. Neil Young 11th January, 2005 [seen 9th January : Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle-upon-Tyne : public show] VERA DRAKE : [6/10] : UK (UK-Fr) 2004 : Mike LEIGH : 122 mins approx click here for Neil Young's essay, 'The Case Against Vera Drake' |
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