Review of Golden Years

Based on the trailer, we watched this with my 93 year old mother on a Sunday afternoon. I say this to emphasise that we didn't build this up as prime time viewing. But in spite of the promised wit of the plot and charm of the recognisable cast, we saw what is certainly one of the worst and most amateur films ever made. Of course it is a fantasy, but that is no excuse for shoddy plot construction, terrible dialogue, dreadful direction and unwatchable cinematography - unworthy of a crime reconstruction film, the locations were nice, and that was it. The unevenness was excruciating e.g. Crass sex references throughout; the dubious social commentary e.g. Stopping of NHS funding for life saving drugs; the untimely death of one of the leading characters (reprising his early death in a previous, seminal, British comedy). The cast have huge talent, with one exception, but my god, they didn't stand a chance with the script (the exception being the spray tanned policeman, who was one of the worst actors I have ever seen). An oddity was all the extras being listed in the closing credits, does this mean they either worked for no fee ( but a credit instead) or perhaps the film was crowd funded? I can only imagine the biggest cost of the film was for the rights to the music, but sullying David Bowie's classic title song can surely not justify the fee paid? Can I respectfully request that the producers and writers go back to their day jobs, and despite their best intentions, satisfy themselves with the knowledge that just because you can make a film, it doesn't mean you should make a film.