AudreyToo

This is all real life. It might not be an actual true story as such, but it is all still very much the truth. Anyone who has had to go through the benefit system in the UK will know how accurate this film is and, no matter how tough you think you are, it will be hard not to shed a tear when watching this film.

Although not under exactly the same circumstances as Daniel Blake, I have experienced the frustrating bureaucracy of having to go to a Job Center and try to sort out benefits. I know that cripplingly humiliating feeling of being talked to like you are worthless and lazy even though you desperately want a job. Every time a bureaucratic DWP character mentioned 'The Decision Maker' it made me want to shout at my screen. I have heard those words in real life. I have dealt with those evil government robots. Special mention to a particular man who worked at the Chorlton, Manchester job center around 2011 who made me feel horrible and who couldn't even crack a smile and say well done when I finally did find work. Loads of people hated you mate and I'm sorry that your life was obviously so utterly devoid of happiness and love. (Sorry, i've gone off on one, its just that this film has brought back a lot of memories!)

This film should be shown to all civil servants, government officials and definitely all politicians in the UK as a guide of how NOT to operate. I hope that one day soon we'll be able to watch I, Daniel Blake and feel glad that times have changed and people aren't experiencing the unjust struggles which this film portrays.

I'm kind of surprised by the pretty high IMDB rating for this cos I can usually rely on IMDB for realistic ratings.

Firstly, I am a massive Twilight Zone fan so I can appreciate this film as a bit of a homage to Rod Serling's magnificent creation, but it gets it wrong in so many ways. I liked that The Man from Earth was pretty much shot entirely in one room because I think that can be effective if the story is really strong, but unfortunately this story went a bit wrong.

I actually liked the premise of the film - combined with the setting and sparse cast it definitely did have a Twilight Zone vibe but then it simply got too silly with all the daft historical name dropping. And the 'twist' at the end could of been played out so much better.

But, on a positive note, the gallop through the last 14,000 years was pretty cool and I did like John's monologues about his life. I liked the low budget, no CGI, no action vibe. And I can't have hated it that much cos I do quite want to watch the sequel (which looks like its got loads of action sequences).

I decided to watch this because I liked the title. Had I known that Keira Knightly was in it I might have chosen something else. I wish I had chosen something else.

I would formally like to state to all other nations that not all English women talk like Keira Knightly. Not many people in the UK actually talk like that at all. It is really really annoying so I'm glad that we don't.

I got a bit excited right towards the end when Steve Carell was going through Knightly's characters record collection and he flicked past Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs. I was hoping to just hear one track from it to take my mind off this dull, rather pointless film, but alas, it didn't happen. You just get to hear loads of Scott Walker.