ETERNITY
(15) 114mins
★★★★☆
LOVE never dies, right? Well, it seems that is the case in this charming romcom about the afterlife.
This is a story about the eternal love between Joan and Larry, a warm, bickering couple who have been married for 60 years.
We first meet them at the end of their lives, when Larry (Barry Primus) chokes to death on a pretzel at a family party.
He is immediately hurtled into the afterlife, which resembles a celestial NEC — a huge exhibition centre with stalls offering an eternal experience in “lands” such as Museum World or Man-Free World.
Great juxtaposition
This confuses Larry (who is now played by Miles Teller, as in the afterlife you apparently become the happiest version of yourself).
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Just as he is navigating the brochures and deciding where to spend forever and ever, he is joined by Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), who has died of cancer and entered the afterlife.
But while Larry is ecstatic, thinking they can spend this eternity together, there’s a spanner in the works in the shape of Joan’s first husband Luke (Callum Turner), who died in World War Two.
Luke has been waiting in purgatory for more than 60 years to lay eyes on the love of his life, and Joan — through the guidance of Eternity Consultants Anna and Ryan (Da’Vine Joy Randolph and John Early) must choose between the two men.
Which one does she want to spend the rest of her death with?
The handsome and intense Luke is a great juxtaposition to the down-to-earth and sometimes miserable Larry, so the men present their best selves in the hope they will get picked.
Joan loves both men for very different seasons — Luke for passion and Larry for comfort.
Larry and Joan have shared a thousand stories, while her relationship with Luke was cruelly cut short by his sudden death.
Meanwhile, Joan herself has spent her life pleasing others and doing what’s “right”, and feels like she might want to shake things up a bit. So you really don’t know how and where this will end while watching.
Written and directed by David Freyne, this sweet, funny film has some truly delightful performances.
While it’s not a romcom classic, it’s a wonderfully warm watch — and it leaves you with the message that love can continue, long after life is over.
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IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT
(12A) 104mins
★★★★☆
WINNER of the Palme d’Or prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, this tells a morally ambiguous tale of revenge that is a barely veiled critique of the current Iranian regime.
Driving at night with his pregnant wife and young daughter, Eghbal (Ebrahim Azizi) accidentally strikes a dog on a dark road. Shaken, he stops at a small garage run by Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), a troubled mechanic who recognises him as his former tormentor in an Iranian prison.
Driven by hatred, Vahid grabs a shovel and almost kills him, but stops himself.
Soon, he’s on the road with a kidnapped man in his van and is joined by a small group of former prisoners, each wanting revenge.
From here on, the film drifts through a series of surreal, dreamlike moments that constantly shift between tragedy and humour.
Filmed in director Jafar Panahi’s characteristically restrained handheld style – impressively steady, even though the movie was made in secret and without authorisation from the Iranian regime – it blends the personal and political in a deeply affecting way.
This is one of Panahi’s best works to date.
Linda Marric
JAY KELLY
(15) 132mins
★★★☆☆
GEORGE Clooney’s latest drama aims to be a thoughtful meditation on fame, family and growth.
But despite its great cast and director Noah Baumbach’s signature introspective style, the film never quite manages to get its point across.
Clooney puts in a beautiful turn as aging actor Jay, while Adam Sandler stars as Ron, his long-suffering Hollywood manager.
Baumbach and co-writer Emily Mortimer deliver a plot stuffed to the brim with unnecessarily overpopulated episodic encounters: estranged daughters (Riley Keough and Grace Edwards), old flames, professional regrets and viral internet fame.
These are meant to feel like fragments of a life finally catching up with a man who has outrun introspection for decades. Yet sadly, the whole thing feels rushed and hugely overlong.
Aside from Sandler, who is magnificent, the rest of the cast, including Laura Dern, Patrick Wilson and Billy Crudup, are given very little to work with.
Jay Kelly ultimately feels like an uneven sketch of a better movie.
It hints at depth but never earns it.
