A Grand Romantic Gesture

This is a beautiful, gentle, romantic comedy, with absolutely fabulous performances by the leads.

Simply can't agree with other reviews that describe this as a waste of talent and humdrum. Sure, if you don't understand irony or romanticism then it's not for you.

Why would you assume locale from the cast? Would you expect Oppenheimer to be from Ireland and set in Birmingham (UK not US) hahaha!!

I've always felt Douglas Hodge goes a bit unrecognised. As for Gena McKee, for me this is right up there with "Our Friends In The North". Love you guys!

We're all entitled to our opinions, I guess that's what makes the world on occasions.

I really wanted to like this movie and at the beginning I did. Mostly because it reminded me of the Marcia Gay Harden movie "If I Were You." - similarly that movie involves a middle-aged lead that falls into a local theatre production and plot evolves from there.

This movie got a little too messy at the end with the leads coming off a bit too unlikable for my taste. The ending didn't work for me either - it seemed like they wanted to have it both ways. I would have liked to see the plot of Romeo and Juliet connecting with the plot of the leads a bit more.

Things I liked - you could definitely see the spark between the leads.

I like this genre but this one just didn't quite hit the mark for me.

On the surface it is comedy, but we joke about what hurts, and this film looks into the question of doubt about past decisions. If you did something years ago and have been living with it ever since, can you do better? If so, should you? And if it does not turn out, then what? Thoroughly amoral and full of mixed signals, this wonderfully nihilistic movie looks at the confusion of characters who did what seemed right and then regretted it later, but true to form are too afraid to leap onto whatever comes next. Darkly brilliant portrayals, morbid humor, and lots of the F-word make this a fun watch even if challenging. All of the acting is top-notch and the script is an object lesson in how to use space (slow pace) without lapsing into circularity; there is no fat on it.

WHAT a shame. I pulled this film from the internet player, when I came across it by chance, thinking: Oh great, two superb British actors, this film has to have some good drama threads in it in order to pull in two such names.

But no. First, I assumed (A_S_S_U_M_E: making an ass of u & me! Hey-ho!) from the casting that it was a British flick & set in Britain. But no, it's set in North America, and has the ring of the good old US-of-A.

Second, it is little more than a romcom for the middle-aged. Nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't even have the average amount of artistic quality that a viewer can hope for from a routine romcom . . . And, let us admit, romantic comedies do tend to be humdrum.

Plus, as the story is set in Canada, the style of the film is very much of and for a North American culture. In this aspect, the movie is miscast. The producers could have given the lead roles to any two known Canadian/US actors, and such a casting would (i) have made more sense to the viewer (ii) the culture the producers are playing to would have been more appropriate with two non-British actors.

Hodge plays a Canadian with the accent to match, while McKee retains her UK accent. But it would have been better had she too been told to adopt a non-English accent, because - as the storyline doesn't explain why her character is English - the pertinence of being a Brit was not put across. The Britishness is superfluous, and the lack of info on this nationality factor seems gaping.

I have watched both Hodge & McKee in some great British dramas. Having not as yet seem them on stage in the UK, I can only assume their myriad Tony, BAFTA, Olivier awards etc credit their skills in that area.

What a lost opportunity: (i) US etc actors & characters would have been more of a winning feature in this film and would have pandered to US taste (ii) British viewers would have known to expect a film without any British influence: angle, whimsy or cultural references. I feel I have been lied to just by the casting. If I hadn't been, then I might have watched the film expecting less, and then the movie would have come across as more than just passable.

Of course, it may well be that someone in the Canadian film studio fancied having two 'Brits' as the leads in their film, somehow thinking any film starring such performers would automatically become high theatre. And the film-making was flowed out from that single point of origin. I suppose they see it rather joyfully, as if royalty had just turned up in their back yard . . . ! And IMO the opening lines of Hodge's character - being a snippet from Shakespeare's famous 'Hamlet' soliloquy - shows the truth of the producers' casting angle!

But such strategising was wrong, & just wasted the ability of both Hodge and McKee. Only a good film can result in film that's good to watch.

The movie, as a whole, lacks true depth, originality & much sense of wit. It has sweet moments, but has a generally over-saccharine flavour - although that might just be the case for a British viewer. Being passable as a premise does not make a film justifiable. The key actors do their best, but it is with very 'mehhh' material.

Even the by-plot of the daughter & son-in-law seems over-engineered. It was clearly meant to be amusing - particularly to any viewers who are middle-aged parents with their own experience of twittery boomerang kids - but instead seems stirred even deeper into an already stultifying plot. The subplot should have either been fleshed out, with better-layered characters, or left out altogether.

The whole product was, well, bland & too lightweight. It's not bad, it's just banal. Nothing stands out in the storyline or its delivery. Only the cinematography is memorable, and is on point throughout. And Hodge & McKee perform hilariously & brilliantly together in the drunken visitation scene. Hey-ho: one exceptional feature & one superb scene does not create a notable film! They just salvage it from being largely mediocre, to make it just adequate.

Truly a missed moment . . . Lacking any pizzazz, this is a straight-to-TV film. And sadly, watching it has been a somewhat dire experience. The next rainy Sunday afternoon when I fancy a light-hearted film entertainment with some 'zing' to it, I shall be more careful in selecting my online viewing.

The 2022 film "A Grand Romantic Gesture" from filmmaker Joan Carr-Wiggin conains all the wonderfully humorous, ironic, touching dialogue and quirky plot twists so characteristic of her work. The "star-crossed lovers" Simon and Ava (Douglas Hodge and Gina McKee) are as unforgettable as, say, the love triangle Abby, Luke and Kayla (Natasha Little, Rupert Penry-Jones and Rachel Blanchard) in her 2020 film, "Getting to Know You."

A delightful surprise was that the music by Kenneth Harrison includes "Never Enough," performed by boywonderbread, over the end credits. The soundtrack is available on Apple Music.

Only quibble is that the Blu-Ray disk, from Gravitas Ventures, contains only the film and subtitles setting - no commentary, interviews, location photographs, etc.