An Awfully Big Adventure (1995)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Dull, drawn out and poorly paced. Nothing happens for the first 95% of the movie, and then everything happens at the end. The conclusion is so swift and left-field it is like you're watching another movie. As such, pacing is ridiculously bad. Title is very inappropriate, as it implies an adventure story or at least a comedy. It is nothing of the sort.Performances are decent though. Good performance by Alan Rickman in the lead role. Hugh Grant plays the bad guy, and does it well. Georgina Cates is OK as Stella.

This has long been one of my favourite films, not least because of its unusual storyline. It gives us a window into the depressing life of the provinces in post World War II England, and also into the life of actors working in the British Repertory system - the youthful enthusiasm of the youngsters, and the frustrations and petty jealousies of the older troupers, long past their prime, if they ever had one.Georgina Cates is superb as the determined Stella, always playing a part whether on-stage or off. She's naive, but ready to do whatever it's going to take to get her foot in the door of the theatrical world. There's a ruthless quality underneath the wide-eyed innocent - she will probably never know that her first lover was actually her father, but if she ever learned the truth, she would probably milk it for all she could.Hugh Grant is quite repulsive as the predatory Meredith, giving us a rare view of him before he was discovered as the quintessential British sex symbol. It's a fine performance, and he gives much more than he does in most of his later roles where he is required to do little more than be charming, amusing, and sexy.And there's Alan Rickman, strong and commanding as always. A shame that he only comes in half-way through, but well worth the wait. His love scenes with Stella were tender and sad - the older man trying to recapture the lost love of his youth, and coming far closer than he realised. The scene when he learned just what he'd done was perfectly played - tragic without ever falling over into melodrama. And as an aside, what a brilliant Captain Hook he'd have made!There was generally good work from the supporting cast, particularly from Prunella Scales as the cynical but not unkind theatre manager, and the wonderful Alun Armstrong as Stella's uncle Vernon. A man of simple philosophy, but not as dense as people like Meredith might think. It's not beyond possibility that his character would have eventually arrived at the truth by himself. He'd be shocked, but I think not surprised, and would take it on board as one of life's strange ironies, without ever quite understanding just how it tore P.L. apart.Some people have found the incest to be distasteful and are put off the film because of it, but it was a tragedy of Greek proportions, a twist of fate for which nobody was responsible, and the protagonists were more to be pitied than reviled. It was handled superbly well, and at the end I felt only sadness for P.L. O'Hara. Stella would survive and go on, no matter what; she would need no-one to weep for her.

I liked the film and, though I'm sure there were countless other ways that they could've still retained its twisted plot in a more concise way, I enjoyed the uniqueness of its story. It was certainly a sad story and it did catch me by surprise. Alan Rickman was terrific, but I wish I could've seen more of his character because for the amount of time he's in the film it simply wasn't enough, especially since he appeared to be a main character. However, it was entertaining and I really liked it and its originality.

Even as a genre (black humor), this movie comes off with only two stars. Incest is never funny, is I guess my reasoning. Also, the film is confusing. It may take several viewings to fully understand and appreciate the action. A note: I've seen it on tape and on cable TV, and for some reason, every time, the sound has been so bad, much of the dialogue is unintelligible.In spite of all that, if you have any interest at all in any member of the cast, or in postwar British theater, or just in the theater in general, you should see it.Basically every performance in this movie is brilliant, especially Alan Rickman, Peter Firth, Georgina Cates and, my favorite actor, Hugh Grant.This film is a must see for anyone who thinks Mr. Grant is a "wooden" actor, or always plays a "hesitant Englishman" (A ridiculous charge made by people who have seen only a fraction of his acting output).