Whats On and Leisure
Flashbacks of a Fool (15) ***
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| Flashbacks of a Fool: Deserted beaches are no fun |
CELEBRITIES are no different to you or me: insensitive, boring, self-pitying, vain, irritable.
The difference is, they have a coterie of agents, publicists and hangers-on to conceal every foible and indiscretion, and magazine editors to airbrush every physical imperfection, perpetuating the myth that they are somehow above the petty fears and insecurities that cripple us mere mortals.
Is it any wonder so many youngsters crave fame and its trappings?
Flashbacks of a Fool is a meandering nostalgia piece about a washed-up Hollywood actor coming to terms with an inglorious childhood tinged with tragedy.
Daniel Craig essays the central role of a sex- and drug-ravaged star, desperate to resuscitate his stagnant career.
It is hardly a vanity project for the current James Bond - he is off-screen for the majority of the film as the past unfurls in bell-bottomed flashback - but he certainly commands attention in present day segments, stripping off for a steamy threesome over the opening credits.
Once the golden boy of Hollywood, handsome actor Joe Scot (Craig) has slowly fallen out of public favour, seduced by a hedonistic lifestyle of booze and narcotics, and the seclusion of his opulent Malibu home.
Housekeeper Ophelia tries to talk some sense into him, to no avail. Only when his agent Manny relates some stark home truths does reality bite to the bone.
"Take a look in the mirror the next time you're snorting off it," Manny rages, "because you're a mess."
Heading for the beach, Joe recalls the trials and tribulations of his youth in a '70s British seaside town, with his mother Grace (Olivia Williams), younger sister Jesse (Mia Clifford) and aunt Peggy (Helen McCrory).
As a teenager, Joe (Harry Eden) runs amok with best pal Boots (Max Deacon) to a soundtrack of David Bowie, Scott Walker and Roxy Music, exploring his burgeoning sexuality with local girl Ruth (Felicity Jones).
However, the advances of nymphomaniac married neighbour Evelyn send Joe hurtling towards the brink of manhood, until reckless actions bring about devastating consequences.
Flashbacks of a Fool is a thoroughly engrossing 90-minute rites of passage drama. Unfortunately, writer-director Baillie Walsh insists on visual details, including copious slow motion, which stretch the running time to the best part of a pedestrian two hours.
Eden carries the weight of the film on his 17-year-old shoulders and he conveys young Joe's vulnerability with aplomb, although he doesn't convince in a pivotal scene when the teenager is finally overcome with grief and guilt.
The supporting cast is solid too.
Try to ignore the unintentional hilarity of a barely aged Williams and McCrory playing Craig's elders in the final segment, considering both actresses are younger than their leading man.
Fashions of the '70s - nylon T-shirts, flares and lurid make-up - contrast with the Helmut Lang and Prada designer threads of the present, and comparisons continue with the gorgeous South African vistas that double for the Malibu coast.
See it at Odeon, Empire
11:42am Friday 18th April 2008
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