28 Up

Filmmaker Michael Apted's pet project for British television (released theatrically in several countries) is an occasionally fascinating, sometimes boring documentary which spans many years as Apted interviews a handful of British schoolchildren in the 1950s, catching up with them seven years later and so on until the kids have reached the age of 25. For the sake of cinema, it is a shame that the subjects whom Apted initially chose for his portrait turned out to be such colorless personalities. There are a few tragedies which unfold with the heartrending beauty of fictional melodrama, yet this installment runs out of intriguing moments long before it is over. Apted is to be commended, nevertheless, for a brilliant cinematic idea. Followed in due time by "35 Up", "42 Up", "49 Up". **1/2 from ****