Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Mischa Redfern I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

zee There may have been other films that adopted this narrative structure, playing the same events over thrice, but from different points of view, but I've not seen such a film until Lawless Heart. I was blown away by both the idea and the execution of this structure, and I applaud the screenwriters/directors.A terrific cast of British actors including Bill Nighy get to strut their considerable acting stuff here. As the scenes are replayed each time, in each of the three acts, we gain more and more insight into each character. We are reminded that the events we live--you and I, in our quotidian lives--have many different protagonists, and we might be nothing more than a bit player to everyone else who experiences the same events, that we might be misinterpreting everyone else's motivation, and that the most interesting details may well be hidden from us.This may make the movie sound confusing, but it is not. The plot unfolds clearly and coherently. While I, a woman, enjoyed it, this is a men's movie, I think, for men who think and feel deeply, rather than men who like to see things blown up. You leave the theater or turn off your DVD player thinking, perhaps even a deeper person--and how often does that happen with a movie?

bandw This movie tells the same story from the viewpoint of three different people. The stories are presented in sequence and cover the same time span - the three characters are together in the first scene as well as several days later in the final scene. The event that brings them together in the first scene is the funeral reception for a man who was the brother-in-law of Dan (Bill Nighy), the lover of Nick (Tom Hollander), and the cousin and friend of Tim (Douglas Henshall). The plot structure is clever and works well. One of the challenges in telling a story in this manner that is effectively dealt with is to strike a balance in how much the characters interact - too little and the movie becomes three separate stories; too much and all the characters, as well as the viewers, know the whole story and there are no surprises. This plot structure is distinctly different from those of "Rashomon," where each character relates the same story with personal embellishments, or "Pulp Fiction," where the stories are only loosely intersecting and the time sequencing is not linear, or movies like "Lantana," which effectively utilizes flashbacks and interactions in real time among an ensemble of unrelated characters.With each succeeding scene in each story we fill in pieces of the puzzle. The curious way people behave in one story is understood in a later story. For example, when Tim throws a party and invites a woman with whom he has just been enamored, she shows up only to hide behind a wall and ultimately escape the party by climbing over a fence. Tim is hard pressed to interpret this peculiar behavior and Dan, who witnesses the escape from outside the house, is mystified. How odd we think, but later we learn that a recent ex-lover of hers is there and she does not want an encounter with him. We are made to think about how each of us sees only a small piece of the big picture. Each personal human encounter is the intersection of two worlds, the complex histories of which are fully known only by the individuals. People behave in ways that we find difficult to comprehend, but, in almost all situations, if we were to know the personal motivations and the full story, all would be understood. To a great extent, the dialog carries the movie. When Dan is approached by an interested woman, Corrine, at the funeral reception and she asks him if he is depressed, he says, "How would I know?"While the movie hangs together on first viewing, I found a second viewing to be rewarding. You pick up on a lot of things that would easily be missed on first viewing, like when Corrine invites Dan to dinner while checking out at the grocery store the cashier is a woman with whom Nick becomes involved.The acting is polished and the multitude of songs on the soundtrack seem to have been chosen with care and they augment the story. It was uncharitable not to credit the Schubert piano trio that so effectively set the mood at the beginning and the end (Trio in E flat, Op. 100 D.929).Altogether an engaging and skillful piece of film-making.

SALUDES `Lawless Heart' is certainly a British made film. And, like a lot of British films, the pace is a bit slow. In fact, the pace is very slow, so, for those of us who like an action packed, on the edge of the seat, movie, this is somewhat difficult to get through.But, the movie is worth the effort. Unlike those adventure movies which take us to imaginary, impossible places, `Lawless Heart' is a film about real people in real situations told in an eloquent way.The story is that of the inter-personal relationships between a small group of friends and family, in a community, brought together for the funeral of one of their own. As the tales of the three main characters, Dan, the in midlife crisis family man, Tim, the long lost young rebel and Nick, the gay man trying to cope with the loss of his partner, unfold, it's possible for anyone watching to relate to one's own life at least one aspect of the multi-faceted storyline. This along with some respectable performances by the cast makes the film worth a look.So, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, when you have nothing else to do, this might be a film to watch.

George Parker "Lawless Heart" is a quaint little British musing and reflection on the ebb and flow of affection among a variegated ensemble of characters just trying to make it from the womb to the tomb like you and me. Set in a village on the Isle of Man, this easy going dramedy mixes charm and heart with spritzes of passion and angst as it takes us on a carousel ride through the lives and loves of the characters showing us the same situations three times, each from a different person's perspective, thereby imparting a strong sense of interconnectedness. Enjoyable stuff worth a look by adults in the mood for an intelligently crafted story about people like us. (B)