Three and Out

I avoided anything with Mackenzie Crook in, because I had always associated him with Ricky Gervais, and I absolutely hate Ricky Gervais. I then saw' The Detectorists 'which I absolutely fell in love with, and saw Mackenzie in a different light, which led me to watching this. What a great film, characters you care about, excellent performances, unique story line and lots of subtle laughs.

After so many years of waiting for a worthy British comedy since Bridget Jones' Diary, this fine piece of work came as a breath of fresh air. After watching it half way i thought they could have done better but at the end of the movie everything made sense. Well its a British movie and it is very British, it outlines dilemmas that are faced by day to day men as we all try to work smart and not hard(with less in return). It seems there has been a lot of controversy as most(tube trade union) believe that the movie is insensitive towards tube workers. One wonders, but when did the British lose their sense of humour? this a comedy! I just believe it was an opportunity for some to get onto our screens. Everyone who has been to London knows that the tube is never reliable, but thats another subject. When titanic hit the screens no one went to protest but I am sure far more people have perished in the seas. The first good movie in a decade comes out and all these sharks are coming at it in full swing, please lets give this movie some credit it deserves.

I saw this not knowing what to expect, and I'm glad that I didn't expect loads of laughs. I suppose it is a dark comedy if anything, but it delivered something much more meaningful, and I was hooked in immediately to the human drama that enfolded. I really wanted to know what happened to the characters, all of whom seemed 3-dimensional, and I cared about their fates. The performances were excellent, especially Colm Meaney as Tommy and Mackenzie Crook as Paul, but Imelda Staunton was wonderful as always. I wanted to see whether the characters would go through with their intentions, because several outcomes seemed possible, and the plot kept me guessing. The ending was emotional and in a strange way very satisfying, and not unrealistically optimistic either. If you are going to deal with the subject of suicide, this is a very effective and thought-provoking film and succeeds on several levels. It deserves a higher rating than it has so far.

First of all it is not a comedy as the adverts would have you think. There are some elements of comedy but first and foremost this is most definitely a drama and not one about tube drivers. It is a drama about the right to aid suicide and there are some really touching moments in this film, especially just before the ending. I wouldn't say the acting was wonderful but despite it's cloudy script the actors give a solid performance and despite being a bit of a dick, i really did feel for Colm Meaneys character. I went into the this movie expecting to laugh, I didn't much, it depressed me, but whether that was the movies intentions is beyond me. My advice rent it on DVD with an open mind you will find some clear gold amongst the ambiguity.YNWA.

Although the producers have classed it as a comedy, I don't really find it can fit under just one genre. It wasn't a comedy of the sort like "American pie", "School of Rock" or "The Simpsons film" (just to name some really famous ones) in which you get regular jokes, set characters to make you laugh e.g. homer or jack black in that case, where you expect to say or do stupid/funny things, it was more of a literal 'film', perhaps like "Bridget Jone's diary", only whereas the same comedy style mentioned above, featuring some elements of comedy and its few moments, but not an actual pure comedy like the 3 examples I gave earlier.

I would actually call it more one of those films like "there will be blood" or "thirteen" that really just make you think or reflect, films that would be good to watch if you are interested in sociology. I must admit I find it hugely ironic that out of the many many films I've seen in my time that this, a classed "comedy" that is the only film other than "ghost" (I was very very young) that has ever managed to actually make me cry. The ending left me feeling very upset, as were literally almost the rest of the audience as they walked out the screen, you grow an attachment to the characters.

I was sceptical about seeing the film at first as the issue of the proposed comedy was suicide, but I think the directors didn't handle it controversially or distastefully overall. I also enjoyed how the film made me think about how everyone literally has such a past and a story to tell.

Overall I think the film was worth seeing, and would recommend it if you want something abit stronger or harder then the average film. Prehaps the producers were also unsure of how to really class this film into a genre.