The script for this is awful; it probably wouldn't have seen the light of day if Richard E Grant hadn't written it. Every line is obvious, a few make you cringe, and basically a creative writing undergraduate could have written similar tosh.
I liked the film quite a lot, though. Nicholas Hoult is one of my favourite young actors, and puts in a solid performance, looking convincing in the unusual and enjoyable movie setting of Africa post-empire – the first film ever shot in Swaziland, reportedly. Grant is a legend too, and his directing is better than his writing. He frames a believable portrait of a sleepy, dull, dying outpost, without romanticizing or condemning it, resisting the endless shots of wild savannah soundtracked by tribal drum featuring 'world music' that generally plague anything set in Africa. It is to his credit that the feature never lapses into cliché and laziness. The colourful costumes add to the feel of it.
Still, despite my positive expectations it is a shame to say that the film isn't any better than average. The plot, insomuch as there is one, couldn't be described as compelling or even interesting. The flaws in the script have already been detailed, and the acting on the whole is just passable. Really, this feels like an episode of Wild Of Heart rather than a high end film with some big names, and so it only really works as mindless wallpaper to pass a dull afternoon.
I liked the film quite a lot, though. Nicholas Hoult is one of my favourite young actors, and puts in a solid performance, looking convincing in the unusual and enjoyable movie setting of Africa post-empire – the first film ever shot in Swaziland, reportedly. Grant is a legend too, and his directing is better than his writing. He frames a believable portrait of a sleepy, dull, dying outpost, without romanticizing or condemning it, resisting the endless shots of wild savannah soundtracked by tribal drum featuring 'world music' that generally plague anything set in Africa. It is to his credit that the feature never lapses into cliché and laziness. The colourful costumes add to the feel of it.
Still, despite my positive expectations it is a shame to say that the film isn't any better than average. The plot, insomuch as there is one, couldn't be described as compelling or even interesting. The flaws in the script have already been detailed, and the acting on the whole is just passable. Really, this feels like an episode of Wild Of Heart rather than a high end film with some big names, and so it only really works as mindless wallpaper to pass a dull afternoon.