I caught this on Prime, and it looked intriguing because Helen Mirren is an excellent actor.
It was like watching two differing films that were split exactly at the halfway mark. The first half is definitely better, as it follows the conventional story of a man falling in love with a prostitute and dealing with acceptance, then jealousy, then control. The film then becomes something else in the second half. It focuses on a drug deal that is probably one of the easiest deals ever to go down in cinematic history, has a somewhat justified murder, and then ends with the most bizarre arguments I have ever seen.
You really have to watch that ending! Given that I have added this review to Spoilers, I want to talk about ending. That "OK" right at the end of the film made me laugh and confused at the same time. We just witnessed Beaty and Emory fight about their future together to run away from the law and to seek a new life elsewhere, only for the clincher to be whether Beaty's son wants to stay home because he was made captain of the football team. They argue and argue and argue, only for Beaty to insist to her son that they are going away. Her son notchy shrugs his shoulders and says, "OK". Then off they go, laughing all the way to Heathrow.
I must admit, I did laugh out loud because my eyes were telling me something, but my brain refused to believe it. Can the stakes get any lower!
Overall, I did enjoy some solid acting from Mirren, Shea and Angelis (who was superb as the scary Alex). It was great to see London again at the cusp of the late 70s / early 80s.
It is a shame the film ended on such a bum note. The second half needed a tighter script with higher stakes at play.
It was like watching two differing films that were split exactly at the halfway mark. The first half is definitely better, as it follows the conventional story of a man falling in love with a prostitute and dealing with acceptance, then jealousy, then control. The film then becomes something else in the second half. It focuses on a drug deal that is probably one of the easiest deals ever to go down in cinematic history, has a somewhat justified murder, and then ends with the most bizarre arguments I have ever seen.
You really have to watch that ending! Given that I have added this review to Spoilers, I want to talk about ending. That "OK" right at the end of the film made me laugh and confused at the same time. We just witnessed Beaty and Emory fight about their future together to run away from the law and to seek a new life elsewhere, only for the clincher to be whether Beaty's son wants to stay home because he was made captain of the football team. They argue and argue and argue, only for Beaty to insist to her son that they are going away. Her son notchy shrugs his shoulders and says, "OK". Then off they go, laughing all the way to Heathrow.
I must admit, I did laugh out loud because my eyes were telling me something, but my brain refused to believe it. Can the stakes get any lower!
Overall, I did enjoy some solid acting from Mirren, Shea and Angelis (who was superb as the scary Alex). It was great to see London again at the cusp of the late 70s / early 80s.
It is a shame the film ended on such a bum note. The second half needed a tighter script with higher stakes at play.