Ana_Banana

It's fun, clever, charming and emotional, and the ending is its best part, contrary to what some of the reviewers have written. If we were to judge based on their reviews, some people desperately want to be lied to and have allowed the romantic comedy genre to degenerate in Hallmark formulas. Well, rude awakening for them: life is not that way, folks! This is why this movie is so much more believable and touching.

How many perfect matches and marriages have you seen to last in real life? How many blind passions have you seen in real life obscuring the obvious choice for some people? Adding quality to such life-like characteristics, this film asks the age-old question whether men and women could be just friends. And not having big, predictable 'stars' contributes to its freshness and even good acting.

One more clever touch of this film is precisely the avoidance of closing up every scene (namely the final one). As one great, smart, fun and under-appreciated American actress recently said, real life has no closed chapters like the scenes in a movie. So, the open ending adds credibility and emotional depth to this film, helped by the female lead's fine acting.

This film is great and different from the usual bunch. Since almost nothing is known about Turner the man, obviously the film deals in its own way with the great topics of art and its place in life. Perhaps some scenes were similar in Turner's life, or perhaps not, but most likely he was a recluse with strong opinions on art and glimpses into Impressionism.

The cinematography looks sometimes like it was taken from his paintings, and the acting is brilliant, especially by Mr. Timothy Spall, who delivers a great performance, no matter how peculiar it is with all his groans and other not likeable features. Because his Turner is a real human being, not idealized, but striving hard to preserve his aspiration towards painting while living under trivial, sometimes sordid or dire circumstances.

The film is nuanced and complex, and asks fundamental questions. Isn't this dichotomy between great art and the 'human, all too human' character true for anybody? So what is the role of art in such a society? Is the artist selfish for striving mostly for his artistic goal? Do others really understand, benefit from and appreciate his works? Most don't, yet a few unexpectedly do (perhaps see the final scene, with his maid alone).