It's Hard to Be Good

'It's Hard To Be Good' is fairly typical of British post-war cinema. It does pose some social comments/questions apt for the era, particularly regarding relationships between neighbours and family in a post-war context, and it also vaguely touches on the plight of returned service personnel (National Service was still in operation at the time). To do this, the film is in some ways quite critical of British society. It is difficult to place the work in any one particular genre, as there are elements from several, with the exception of 'action' or 'war'. The nearest description would be 'drama', but with a good element of 'romance'. The acting is standard fare and adequate, as is the plot. There are a few quite funny moments, that were probably quite advanced in concept at the time the film was made. Other than that, after sitting through a relatively unchallenging (but moderately entertaining) film, I was very disappointed with the ending. It seems as though none of the 'loose ends' were tied up for the audience, rather as if the funding ran out during filming. It just suddenly stops. Watch it only if you have nothing better to do, or if you are into social anthropology, cultural studies or sociology.