Actor-turned-director Richard E. Grant’s
autobiographical movie, set in the waning days of the British Empire, is a
trenchant, non-nostalgic portrait of family dysfunction and a disappearing way
of life.
Set in the waning days of British colonialism,
actor-turned-director Richard E. Grant’s autobiographical drama takes place in
Swaziland. Partly a coming-of-age-drama, it features Nicolas Hoult as a version
of the teenaged Grant. Judging by his movie’s portrayal of an alcoholic dad
(Gabriel Byrne), abandoning mom (Miranda Richardson), and motley assortment of
snobs and adulterers, Grant’s recollection of the time isn’t entirely fond. His
movie lacks the air of nostalgia you might expect and that partly permeates,
for example, Nowhere in Africa, 2003’s foreign-language Oscar-winner.
Yet it’s also funny at times, especially the parts with Emily Watson as
pretension-piercing American among this lot of strangely anachronistic British
Africans. (Watson coincidentally also co-stars in The Proposition, which opened the same weekend.) Byrne is especially good as the hard-drinking diplomat,
even if the transformation of his character from kindly father to drunk is
jarringly quick. The mixture of trenchant family drama and a look at a
disappearing way of life is unusual and worthwhile.
posted 8/19/13
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