Eternity

The three stars are for Elliot Travers and Dean Knowsley who saved this movie. If the movie had been a two-hander, it would have been much better. Really, that's the best thing I can say about this movie. The other actors simply fail to engage or deliver. I must live on a completely different planet to the Cannes Jury - because I don't think I've experienced such stilted acting and badly written conversation since high school. The story is prosaic and predictable, the dialogue is dreadful - but Travers and Knowsley manage to transcend the words so well you actually care about them. But the other actors do not manage the same feat with the badly written repartee. I can't really blame them, but I was a little embarrassed to watch them. I kept thinking of those kids in school plays who try a bit too hard. I had no interest in the other characters' lives and found myself wanting them to keep quiet. I did want it all to be better, and I expected better - but I guess all NZ films can't be independent masterpieces. The premise was promising - but I felt I'd seen this story before.