I have often said that there is nothing harder to review than a mediocre film; “Well, it was alright, everyone was pretty good… but overall I can’t really say why I didn’t like it… I just, kind of, didn’t”. Well that’s not the case here with My Policeman, this is a pretty bad and empty film, but also it’s not atrocious, it’s all just a little shallow and indeed average. I guess at current I’m struggling more so with the reckoning of whether the film is average or just plainly bad. Either way, the recommendations of quality in this are regrettably few and far between.
This film comes to us adapted for the screen by Ron Nyswaner from the novel of the same by Bethan Roberts, directed by the much acclaimed stage director Michael Grandage, who regrettably with this and his previous film Genius has not especially made a name for himself as an acclaimed director for the screen. Nyswaner’s screenplay attempts clearly to be a complex piece filled with characters who have great depth, not everybody here is likable for instance and beyond the general empathy of the plight of being gay in these times, it’s hard to actually root for anybody in this trio of characters as each of them make selfish decisions and with full mentality make decisions that wontedly impact and even destroy the lives of others. The tale is told as a duelling narrative as we see the present day older married couple of Tom and Marion as they go about their retirement Brighton lives as they accept into their home the now deeply sick Patrick, who we come to learn in the counter narrative of their younger selves once had a love affair with Tom that of course put them all in situations of great danger and tragedy. The issue is of course that neither Grandage or Nyswaner do a very good job at reflecting any of the joy of either of the loves in Tom’s life, this is to say that this film has tragedy and woe at the core of it. Now it goes without saying that tragedy and woe were regrettable inevitabilities in the lives of closeted men at this time, but this film ultimately ends up presenting itself as a tale of great hope and romance, when as the story continues each character, bar probably Patrick, becomes less and less likable. It’s not that you’re not rooting for their happiness, but it’s such a horridly convoluted and rushed way of getting there, with also the characters doing horrid things that the script has nowhere near the complexities or quality to present as fleshed out choices. It all just feels so empty. Empty on the written page and now empty on the screen.
The issue of
course that underpins the film is that of these six lead performances only half
of them are actually good and even then it’s nobody’s best work. As the older
Tom and Marion, both Gina Mckee and Linus Roache are dazzlingly dull and
under-developed. It’s not they’re bad actors, but these are two very average to
bad performances with very little life to them. Rupert Everett is here as the
older Patrick, however is wheelchair bound and with his character’s stroke remains
largely speechless. Everett is great at what he is asked to do, but what he is
asked to do is sit in a wheelchair, mumble a little and stare longingly out of
multiple windows. The issue of course is that that’s one of the six performances
I’d class as good. Emma Corrin as younger Marion is the closest at getting at
the complexities of how her character has been written and even then I wouldn’t
say it’s her best work, the complexities of the script of course only being
surface level too. She’s very solid, but nothing terribly special. David Dawson
as our younger Patrick too here is very good, but a little underserved by the
script. Dawson is charismatic at the start and does well at presenting the
sadness of his character, but again, it’s nothing outstanding. Of course, the
reason this film is being talked about (if it is? Is it?) is that it marks the
second time in so many months of Harry Styles on our movie screens, and well…
this may be worse than Darling. This performance is so out of his depth and
at times even the simplest and most mundane of dialogues comes off as stilted
and bizarrely delivered. His anger is horridly forced and everything just comes
off so desperately unbelievable. Styles is 0 for 2 and whereas Darling has
a few glimpses of charm, this has very little of anything. As a film, in fact,
the film has very little of anything.
It's got to be closer to a 3 than a 4/10 on this one. To have a batting average with your six lead performances of about 50/50, and for one of the three you’re counting as good to be barley in it and have no lines, is not what you want out of a performance led character study. The tale attempts to be complex about its characters, but instead ends up a lame, dull and shallow bore. The drama and misery of our characters is of course not untruthful to the time, but does at times feel like a relentless parade of sorrow with very little joy in it. The characters are all various degrees of unlikable and the attempt at a complex character driven tale completely falls flat.
P.S. I think I’ve changed my mind on what I said before that Styles could work in a charming rom-com. I don’t think he will work in anything. Other than a musical, where he has no lines. He’s an incredibly talented individual and yet the most talented individuals always have a thorn in their side about that thing that they just can’t grasp hold of. For Styles it will be a tepid acting career.
- - Thomas Carruthers
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