By
Lisa. 
I had
a big, soppy grin on my face from the opening shot right through to the
end. It *was* lovely to see Colin all over the screen, and to be in a cinema
with a whole bunch of people, enjoying it and laughing together.
It's
a very English film, I have to say. Anyone who has ever seen a soccer match
will respond to it. It's low key, gently funny, anti-romantic, occasionally
exciting (you can't help getting carried away by the football excitement),
and in my opinion, an excellent choice by Colin as a film to make.
If you've
read the screenplay (as I have), you'll know the story, but you still won't
get the full measure of the feeling or tone of it. (Those of you who have
seen it, I'd love to compare notes). It certainly isn't black and white
- I had got the impression from some reviews that it was about Sarah being
proved 'wrong' and Paul being proved 'right', but it definitely isn't like
that.
I've
also read about how Nick Hornby had to 'sacrifice' most of his book and
turn it into a romantic comedy. But the love story is very definitely between
Paul and Arsenal as much as between Paul and Sarah. And the film conveys
very well indeed what makes Paul feel the way he does about his soccer
team.
 One
of the things that amused me most about the film was incidental - the scenes
with Mr Darcy and Mr Knightley (Mark Strong) being a pair of yobbos and
talking about soccer. Makes you blink, just for a moment.
Ruth
Gemmell was very good, and her part wasn't nearly as unrewarding as I had
expected - she gives an intelligent, full performance that really worked
for me. One or two reviews have said it's hard to see why Sarah and Paul
fall in love. I had absolutely no problem with that. The kid that plays
Colin as a youth was good too - he looks a little bit like you imagine
Colin might have looked, and as he becomes a teenager, he had obviously
been studying how Colin walks - I recognised it immediately!
Colin
was adorable. And funny. And sweet. Some of the funniest moments are when
he is swearing abominably. The biggest laugh came in the restaurant scene.
Even lines that read on the page as if he is being aggressive or rude or
impossible just don't come across that way, because of the charming way
he plays them. He really gets inside the skin of the character. The moment
where he holds up the baby - the look on his face, and the subtext you
just knew was there - was adorable.
 He
looks like an unmade bed, and doesn't care, and it is exactly right for
the character. The hair has a gorgeous red tinge, especially in outdoors
shots. In some scenes, he looks so handsome you just want to eat him up,
and in others he looks dirty and rumpled and unshaven and - well, not perfect
looking, but totally human. I paid especial attention to the thighs in
the famous Arsenal boxer shorts, and I reckon they look very nice indeed,
quite respectable, if perhaps not objects of lust (!) - but he does have
rather thin arms. I like that - it makes him more vulnerable and approachable.
He gives a lovely, understated, sweet, rumpled performance. Even the voice
worked for me, in context.
Mr Darcy
is the kind of man you want to fall down and worship in awe - the sort
of classic good looks, reserve and romance and suppressed passion you just
gaze at, open mouthed and misty eyed. But Paul Ashworth is the kind of
man you'd *really* like to know, a good friend, a sweet and funny lover,
the kind of man you'd go to for a cuddle and a good laugh, and you feel
comfortable with, and you can tell him he's an idiot, and he'll take it. |
"The
thing that struck me most when I read the book was something to the effect
that a middle-class suburban male, when he steps into a comprehensive school,
steps into a cultural void. We don't have things to weep into our beer
about, we don't have that sense of pride in our identity, and so we go
round trying to invent it, wishing we were Charlie George or someone."
(interviewed by Jasper Rees, Elle UK, May 1997)
"Colin
Firth's adult Paul has the gruffness of his Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice,
as well as a lot of the charm. Tousle-haired and habitually apprehensive,
he moves in a jerky, unco-ordinated way, fending off distractions for fear
of complications" (Sandra Hall, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 Aug, 1997)
Which
are yours?
