Reviews

34 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
The Mercy (2018)
2/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#37 The Mercy

Rodney Hallworth = The Safe Character

Pros: The film itself is well made. Colin Firth, Rachel Weisz, and Thewlis do their job and their due, no more and no less, is not a difficult film to see. After all, I am grateful that David continues in the industry after almost 30 years of artistic career, here he personifies Rodney the press director who is charged with following the story of amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst (Colin Firth) during the Golden Globe Race in 1968.

Cons: His character is not risky at all. If anyone has seen the films that David has made in recent years you will notice that he lately plays the typical English refined man, so he is very linear. This is perhaps the weakest film ever seen of him, you won't miss anything important anyway. Before seeing it I had already read several reviews on the internet talking about it and they were negative comments so, after all, the film didn't disappoint me at all because I knew I wouldn't like it in the end. If you are just a fan of some of the actors that appear here, you love biographical films, you are very cinematic or just have a lazy day and you have nothing to see this can be a good choice.
2 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Endgame (2000 TV Movie)
2/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#36 Endgame

Clov = The Dismal Character

Pros: As a script written by Samuel Beckett it is quite good because the narration is interesting; a pestilent story with a dark background almost tinged with a kind of disturbing/dubious film the fact of having that aura gives him that one point in favor along with the fact that David fits so well in this kind of bizarre roles, he plays Clov, a man with a kind of mental disorder who lives next to Hamm (Michael Gambon) both locked up from the outside world inside a desolate house.

Cons: In the end, this adaptation ends up being just a short unconventional film. Clov is one of those types of characters that make you want to know more about them but they are not sufficiently developed because the film is already very limited, no matter how unusual this film would be, for some reason I don't like it.
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#34 Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut Version)

Hospitaler = The Angelical Character

Pros: This is possibly the best epic adventure directed by Ridley Scott for several reasons: it's not as crowded, it's not as commercial at all or pretentious for a Hollywood movie and finally because it's somehow very underrated. Ok, now let's talk a little about the character of David, if you see the theatrical version of the film maybe you have a concept in which you can come to think that he is a mortal person like all other characters, a simple man who helps injured and sick people during the crusades and who also supports Balian (Orlando Bloom) in some way, but if you see the director's version all these changes completely in terms of Hospitaler's perspective and insinuates that maybe he is an angel or a mystic being (?). Good cast especially David, Eva Green and Jeremy Irons for me are the most clinging to the majesty of this film.

Cons: I think everyone will agree with me that Orlando Bloom is not exactly the best actor to be the main character of this film, who would have told him it could be an excellent choice, the rest of the cast helps his character to shine from time to time (but Orlando is inexpressive and cold, I'm sorry). If you don't like the stories about the Crusades or this era as well as the things they explain throughout the film in general, maybe you don't have any interest in seeing it.
0 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
An Inspector Calls (2015 TV Movie)
3/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#33 An Inspector Calls

Inspector Goole = The Nosy Character

Pros: An adaptation of the famous play written by J. B. Priestley, the most absorbing part of this story is the fact that no one is a protagonist or has an important role in it, the most important in this film are the events that occur throughout the story. David plays the moderator of this work, Inspector Goole, who one night arrives at a house where dinner is celebrated and will change the atmosphere of that place in an unexpected way. My understanding is that Inspector Goole is a kind of angel who seeks to give them a lesson and serves as a mediator between the viewers and the rest of the fictitious characters (like him), I liked the fact that this story was depressing and desolate, somewhat different from other English plays ...

Cons: An Inspector Calls is not a film that excites me or has excited me. To be honest, I'm not immersed or related to this play, so if you're a fan of playwright J.B. Priestley or David you can give yourself the opportunity to this adaptation and maybe it could be to your liking.
3 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#32 Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?

Keilth Nesbit = The Standard Character

Pros: Peculiar and rare film conceived in the UK, is one of those types of films that you don't see commonly on television or in cinemas, maybe reading about it I'm sure you didn't even know it or knew it existed, but if some strange reason you get to have the chance to look at it I would tell you they're not bad after all, it's a decent film. Peter Hewitt as director and the actors in the cast are great, David is Nesbit the office manager were Harold (Tom Courtenay) works, who throughout the film showed us his peculiar life, so the film has positive things and not because it is unknown does not mean that it is so bad.

Cons: I swear I thought this film would make me laugh, but I don't get it at all, I was only attracted by some hilarious scenes/moments, I thought that the mix of the 70's retro themes and the science fiction that the film handles would be something really fascinating, but all hopes faded away, David's character is nothing extraordinary to call him a great secondary, he is the typical head of the office that appears at times during the film to throw his snaps, and on the other hand this Stephen Fry who has good scenes during the film but never gives one between him and David and that's a pity, because I was looking forward to seeing a funny scene between them. The end of the film is too strange for my taste.
0 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Restoration (1995)
4/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#31 Restoration

John Pearce = The Benevolent Character

Pros: Picturesque historical film with Robert Downey Jr. as the main character, Downey is the kind of actor that in large doses can get tired, but fortunately there is very moderate, it is so comical and endearing to see Robert and David as friends, believe me, it was hard for me to imagine watching the two together in a movie. John is (along with Jerry in Black Beuty) the most chaste, pure, innocent and transparent role David has ever played in his entire career. John and Robert live in 12th century London in the hope of becoming the best doctors and helping sick people, but the character of Downey Jr. will experience events as impressive as they are tragic that will affect his life as a whole as well as poor John's life. The story, the colorful landscapes, and the cast are attractive enough as well as easy enough to understand their events.

Cons: Certainly what made me most unpleasant to see was undoubtedly the death of John, of all the films in which David dies, this is the one that has certainly made me suffer the most... from that moment on I almost lost interest in continuing to see this film but even so seeing it is no longer the same. It's always the same when I see it, maybe if I hadn't passed away this film could have been better and maybe I would have been higher in my ranking.
0 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
The Omen (2006)
4/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#30 The Omen

Keith Jennings = The Paradigmatic Character

Pros: I love horror movies. We all like... Or not? Especially being a film made to be screened in cinemas makes it have all the ingredients so it can be to your liking and do not end up bored. David would play the role that his also namesake David Warner had played before in 1976, that of a photographer named Keith who gets involved with the Thorn family and their diabolical son, so much so that he will suffer for having got muddy in all this. In general there is a good cast, decent jumps of fear and an easy story to digest for anyone, but unfortunately.......

Cons: ...This one has big flaws for me. It is harmful that Hollywood sells so obviously the 666 and these things of the devil, symbologies, as well as hidden messages to promote a remake that was perhaps unnecessary and that, will never live up to the original, I remember when I was in high school this film made a huge publicity because it would be released on June 6, 2006. But without a doubt it is clear that I never imagined seeing David in this swill, Keith's death is laughable and embarrassing. Anyway, the whole film has some embarrassing and sad moments, and David also won another nomination for the Razzies. If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend that you don't take it so seriously.
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Regression (I) (2015)
4/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#29 Regression

Professor Kenneth Raines = The Skeptical Character

Pros: A film of mystery, crime, suspense, drama, a satanic and psychological hybrid with the seal of Alejandro Amenábar seems to be a good combination, knowing that in the past has made interesting and intriguing films like Thesis (which by the way love that film). David is Professor Kenneth Raines a psychiatrist who helps a policeman named Bruce (Ethan Hawke) in a strange case of sexual abuse in the 1990s.

Cons: But no, this movie becomes a false promise, no one in the cast is a real highlight (not even David himself), it's like an unfinished or badly made episode of The X-Files, it's like watching David as Scully and Ethan as Mulder, the movie tries to scare and suspense you but it doesn't even make it. Harry Potter fans who are anxious to see the "meeting" between David and Emma Stone....Well...they will be disappointed because the scenes between them are almost null and there is no dialogue in their characters, I imagine that Alejandro Amenábar must have felt a very intelligent man or simply very pretentious when he directed it. The end of the film leaves you with gaps rather than a "real" answer to what happened to all the events that happened in it.
2 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Wonder Woman (2017)
5/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#28 Wonder Woman

Sir Patrick/Ares = The Unexpected Character

Pros: DAVID THEWLIS IN A S-U-P-E-R- H-E-R-O- M-O-V-I-E! Y-E-S! is not a bad dream at all....But well, seriously speaking: He was the only reason I went to see this movie, I'm not a big fan of the adaptations of superhero comics, because they are so popular and so box-office box office that they are boring! In spite of everything I gave him the benefit of the doubt and in the end I liked him so much, without expecting anything in return, David is undoubtedly the surprise of this film, interpreting two characters: on the one hand we have Sir Patrick a nobleman who at first sight only seeks to end peacefully with the First World War and on the other hand we discover that in truth it is Ares, the god of war who will do everything possible to end with the protagonist: Diana (i.e. Wonder Woman), daring to play a typical character and wanting to contrast with a very different character and not stay in his comfort zone made me happy, I was literally impacted in the cinema like the rest of the people there. The final battle with Ares and Diana reminds me of the last minutes of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice but 1000 times better! Wonder Woman is so easy to see that the 141 minutes it lasts blow as fast as the wind.

Cons: Although the film lasts more than 2.5 hours, I think in that time more moments could have been shown than if they should have been included in the film to give more shape to the story such as Diana's childhood or more interaction between her and the rest of the cast. The "relationship" they want to sell about Diana and Trevor is unbelievable, FXs are sometimes very exaggerated and so boring to watch.... But hey, it's a superhero movie, what else can you expect? This film is safe and doesn't take many risks.

Curious fact: David Thewlis and Ewen Bremmer appeared together before in Naked.
0 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#27 London Boulevard

Jordan = The Wannabe Character

Pros: It's hilarious, but, something very funny about this film is that it would seem that all the actors are playing themselves, because that's the image that everyone has given me, in this case, David is Jordan, a quirky guy who his sister, a young actress (Keira Knightley) gets involved with a London criminal (Colin Farrell). The movie can be good as long as you don't have any prejudices or don't take things so seriously; Jordan is a character that can be very distinctive or funny for someone who loves this kind of comic characters or the funny British characters on the screen because it gives a comic twist to the story.

Cons: But.... I must say that this film is very weak in several respects: The script is badly done, the direction is sometimes disoriented and the characters need extreme development because all of them don't go in any direction, in the end, nothing happens. Jordan is not David's best comic character in my humble opinion, he tries to give the best of himself but with these deficiencies I mentioned before it is very difficult to do his maximum, it's as if he tries so hard to be cool and ends up being a Wannabe.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Anonymous (I) (2011)
5/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#26 Anonymous

William Cecil = The Opportunistic Character

Pros: A warm round of applause for Roland Emmerich! You have to admit that he has tried to get out of his own comfort zone, where he took things seriously and in a moment of lucidity he wanted to bring something more complex than what he always offers in Hollywood. David, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson and Rhys Ifans (believe it or not!) are the only ones who support this film with their acting qualities, David plays Cecil, the right hand of Queen Elizabeth I in the seventeenth century, a manipulative man, a liar who seeks to achieve his own goals at his own convenience but that fate itself puts him in his place at the end.

Cons: I think Emmerich is incredulous or maybe he thinks we viewers are incredulous, the beginning of the film is a bit tangled and difficult to follow, the flashback scenes are difficult to understand at first, the costumes the characters wear and the effects are sometimes exaggerated, after watching this movie I think maybe Emmerich wanted to be clever and reinvent the official story we all know of this playwright or maybe he wanted us to believe that this story is fictitious by putting more fiction into it to leave us with an idea that maybe not even Shakespeare himself probably never existed in real life, that great confusion!.
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#25 The Zero Theorem

Joby = The Indoctrinated Character

Pros: I admit it. I'm a big fan of Terry Gilliam, he's a unique director. Brazil is perhaps one of my favorite films of all time. The concepts he uses throughout the film are quite surprising, he knows how to create a good quirky dystopia, he knows how to get my attention. Despite not being something new and innovative in 2013 this is really interesting and worth seeing at least once, David plays Joby, who works in a corporation in charge of controlling the whole society that exists (in the film) as every good character Orwellian this accepts the rules of living in that world and does not judge it.

Cons: Unfortunately this film is not a masterpiece and it is impossible not to compare it with Brazil, in that sense it disappoints me and leaves me with a bittersweet taste, David's character is funny but sometimes it seems that Gilliam himself uses it so that all of us remember or think we are seeing Michael Palin or John Cleese, and in the end Joby becomes a very wasted character. With the passage of time, Christoph Waltz becomes bored and insipid to see (and in a way also the whole film) his character does not add anything special to this story, the end of it is very heavy and we do not appreciate the message that wants to capture us completely.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#24 Queen and Country

Sergeant Major Bradley = The Deranged Character

Pros: I want to clarify that I saw this film without having seen its first part Hope and Glory, I think that if you have not seen the first part will not affect that you look at this. In this sequel to the 1987 film, we meet the torturer Sergeant Bradley who is in charge of having under his control a young army of English soldiers during the Korean War in 1952. More than anything there are three things I want to distinguish from this sequel: 1) All the moments in the military camp are nice and fluid (being honest I was looking forward to seeing more events in there) 2) Richard E. Grant always makes great supporting characters in every film that appears and he is a reason for me to keep watching it. 3) Sergeant Bradley is the most distinctive character in the entire film and brings great dynamism to the story.

Cons: What I liked the least was precisely the opposite. When Bill returns home the film feels completely disinterested to my liking, the love story (?) between Bill and Ophelia doesn't stand out at all, it doesn't add anything motivating to the film, to be frank about having to watch the ending of David's poor character in bed really makes me feel sorry for myself. I find the treatment given to the character unfair, but what are we going to do?
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Vroom (1990)
6/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#22 Vroom

Ringe = The Friendly Character

Pros: A rare mix is what you find here, it's a low-income home movie, it's a road movie, it's a very British film, it has an 80's aura and a peculiar thing: a curious dumbbell between David and Clive Owen before becoming "The Clive Owen", simply Ringe is the typical character who is the friend of the protagonist and who accompanies him on his adventures... and nothing else (this is his first film just like David); a film easy to digest. There are good scenes that follow a good rhythm throughout the film to get to the end.

Cons: The most obvious thing you notice in Vroom is that it has many deficiencies and irregularities like having a very linear script, a cheap soundtrack, and almost no complexity, the ending is so spooky (I mean in a bizarre sense), maybe Jake committed suicide! WTF? (the film gives a glimpse of that). If you're a David fan (like me), Clive will give you retro nostalgia. If you're looking for weirdness in the cinema or just try to watch a movie out of laziness....you're welcome! if not avoid it at all costs! Vroom is not solid enough to be to my liking.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Legend (I) (2015)
6/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#21 Legend

Leslie Payne = The Accompanying Character

Pros: An entertaining and easy to watch the film without complications that despite not reinventing or doing anything new in the British Crime/Mob genre is made for you to keep watching, here David gives life to Leslie a bully related to organized crime in the 1960s. Tom Hardy's double character is perhaps the most interesting surprise in the whole story, I thought that seeing him in a double role would be boring but in the end, it wasn't! Once again David becomes a character that only serves to accompany or support the protagonist of the story that in this case is Hardy; it is a solid film after all and nothing more, if you like Gangster No. 1 this film will not disappoint you, but in turn, are not good if we compare them.

Cons: It's unfortunate that in 2015 a director or scriptwriter can't make a more original film or story and use ideas or clichés so common in many others because the film has so many of them. The last part is boring and poorly done and does not give you interest or follow up on what happens at the end. Seeing Chazzz Palminteri and David in the same scene reminds me how much they are aging now.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#20 Seven Years in Tibet

Peter Aufschnaiter = The Zen Character

Pros: This film tells the life of two Austrian mountaineers who in the middle of World War II are involved in a story that will affect their lives forever. I could write many positive things like saying that the film has a beautiful direction, a good editing, a good story, landscapes and perfect places to show .... but I want to mention something that perhaps many users or critics never got to say when they talked about this film and is that if we analyze very deeply the real message that the film tries to make us see is that we must seek inner peace and Peter is the only one of the two that really gets it and not Heinrich. Peter finds happiness in what he has at his fingertips and his own existence is not complicated by materialistic and banal things that ultimately leave him nothing.

Cons: Instead, Heinrich, who lives depressed by the internal remorse of his past over the years, doesn't really become a good guy at all...he's quite materialistic, he also treats his wife badly and in a way gives us a glimpse that he was a Nazi (mmm I think so). In my opinion, the fact that Heinrich has committed himself more to life in Tibet than Peter doesn't change his way of being or remotely, but unfortunately, this film smells very Hollywood and Brad Pitt represents that commercial side that this film has in some aspects? At the end of the film this one tries to justify his actions by wanting to go back to look for his son, but well, I think it's a serious mistake to make us believe that he's going to change and that in the end he just goes back to Austria to become a ''free spirit''. The friendship that is created between Peter and Heinrich sometimes leaves me with a feeling of coldness, only the two have a mutual affection for the many years that survived all these vicissitudes together. The secondary plot that appears of the Dalai Lama was sometimes monotonous to see in the film, but an objective justifies the means, doesn't it?
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Screenplay: Journey to Knock (1991)
Season 6, Episode 10
7/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#18 Journey to Knock

Terry = The Seeking Attention Character

Pros: Another BBC film with its British style and signature, dealing with the subject of disability as a surprise factor, but nevertheless, this is handled in a common way without becoming a boring cliché until the film becomes a kind of Road movie. Here we see David as the protagonist of this story, playing Terry, a man disappointed with a depression for not having full meaning to all things that happen in life because of being paraplegic, yet he does everything possible because everyone listens to him regardless of his condition, and seriously, I'm not kidding when I say that David steals every scene/moment that appears. At times the film gives messages with a tone of black humor about inclusion and how we shouldn't do less to these people. John Hurt is good as a secondary and I highlight him as a supporting cast because he keeps his distance all the time and doesn't obscure the story at any time, which I appreciate.

Cons: I would lie to you if I told you that this film doesn't have some flaws, of course, it does, but... Nah.... I forgive this one for this occasion.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
The Lady (2011)
7/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#17 The Lady

Michael Aris = The Support Character

Pros: A film that flows so easily that it never becomes complicated or difficult to watch. Luc Besson is a director who always strives to give a good direction regardless of the genre and whether he wrote the script or not. The Lady manages to give us a story with a beautiful message of humanity without becoming something pretentious, in the David plays Aris, an expert on Tibetan issues married to the famous activist named Aung San Suu Kyi (Michelle Yeoh) who fought for her people as well as her roots. I want to mention David's double performance, I felt a nice gesture as it reminded me a lot of the BBC television series called The Street where I also played twins.

Cons: The last thirty minutes of the film are very badly structured; they don't make you feel as empathetic with the main character as you should. I actually think that if someone approached you and told you the ending you would understand much more what is happening than if you saw it for yourself, this happens in many films about biographical lives, tend to be a success or a failure and are not always fascinating as you think.
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Mr. Nice (2010)
7/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#16 Mr. Nice

Jim McCann = The Trashy Character

Pros: You want me to tell you the truth? David's character is the only thing really worth seeing in this movie because it shows how sometimes a brilliant supporting character can entertain an entire movie, Jim is super hilarious! is Howard's friend (Ifans) a man who has made everything and great influence, David gives us all a lesson in how you can make an interpretation without the need for many resources. On the other hand, I also want to highlight Chloë Sevigny because I love to see her in every film in which she appears, Chloë is so adorable and charming, she also somehow keeps you from watching this film.

Cons: Do you want to read another truth? I'm pretty sure Rhys Ifans doesn't yet have enough experience to put all the weight of the story on her shoulders, her character is so insipid. The film takes a long time to start and therefore becomes slow and soft, Jim McCann was so good secondary that he should have appeared more and had a secondary story of his own, which is difficult because the script lacks consistency and better fluidity.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#15 The Island of Dr. Moreau

Edward Douglas = The Hidden (Protagonist) Character

Pros: It's not a film as bad as many critics said at the time, maybe the big reason I like it is because it was one of the first films I saw of David, it's a shame that Edward Douglas is the real protagonist of this story, because he was the only survivor who was shipwrecked on a small fleet and who arrives on the mysterious island of Dr. Moreau. Throughout the film Edward plays a voyeuristic role and like him we all become spectators and see all the spooky events that happen during the island, the FX's and makeup are great, a good mixture of suspense and horror/survival in this remake, the fact that Edward is the only character that stays alive in the end made me happy!

Cons: Obviously a movie of this type will always leave a lot to be desired, it is somewhat uncomfortable that Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando are just the biggest names trying to sell this film believing that it will not be disgusting because their characters are very stereotyped! But this is a film made in Hollywood, so... I'm not surprised.
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Screen One: Filipina Dreamgirls (1991)
Season 3, Episode 3
7/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#14 Filipina Dreamgirls

Tim Shanks = The Breezy Character

Pros: Don't make fun of me, but this BBC film is really interesting, this is not the typical theme that is shown daily in a normal film, I'm not so immersed in this theme, but I still think it's very curious to see a film being made about taboos in the Philippines, knowing that British men have a great desire to seek luck in this country makes me feel funny to see it myself, because all the characters that appear are very nice. David plays Tim, a young man who works in a construction company, of immature thought who doesn't really know who he wants in his life but who in any case launches with 3 other men to travel to the Philippines to find true love, a very human character where David shows a playful side and self-bleak.

Cons: Like most of these Screen One movies, they are not as elaborate compared to a standard movie, made for DVD or for the cinema, although I would like you can not ask more to this movie. It's not a catchy enough movie to become one of your favorites whether you're a fan of David or not.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Cheeky (2003)
7/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#13 Cheeky

Harry Sankey = The Tragicomic Character

Pros: David's first (and only) film as he writes and directs shows that he has a lot of talent, a real-life story in which we know more about David's personality, embodying Harry, a man who from living a rose-colored life becomes in the blink of an eye a disgrace when his wife dies and this one knowing that his desire was that he appears in a TV contest called precisely Cheeky will make this live situation of the most tragicomic. It is obvious that David made such a film because he has a great appreciation for comedies and black acid humor movies, which I use to emphasize this film. It has a cozy and loving cast: Lesly Sharp (yes, nice reference to Naked) and Eddie Marsan. Perhaps it would be a film that I would advise to see only if you are a fan of him, but Cheeky deserves more attention, a hidden jewel without a doubt.

Cons: Just one, but I think it's a big one, the problem with the whole film is that at any moment it tends to be more comedy or more drama and it's not completely defined at all, and in the end it's neither one nor the other, David tries to make a mixture of the two and finally the film is not as substantial as it could be, in my opinion, I feel that he wanted to make a very careful story and not touch on something insolent because the clear examples of this are several moments of the film such as the plot of the TV show and the creation of the character Trudie Styler, both are great ideas that he embodied in the film but do not fit very well in the script....it could have been something more solid.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#12 American Perfekt

Ernest Santini = The Wasted Character

Pros: A strange story, unusual, with a great scoop that despite not being the most original story (very Hitchcocknian), has great moments of suspense, depressing and sadness that are very well thought out, really make you think in many ways about what happens in the same, David and Amanda Plummer are the best part of the film, both Characters (Santini and Sandra) have a great complexity and nuances that only both can create and I must say they did an excellent job. Santini's character is a very picturesque magician who, without having to or fearing it, crosses the path of two people who will damage his existence.

Cons: Unfortunately when Santini and Sandra die the film begins to decline, all fascination begins to fade, Robert Forster and Fairuza Balk end the film together, if this had not happened I think American Perfekt would be a much better film and very possibly could have entered my Top 10! What a pity
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Total Eclipse (1995)
7/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#11 Total Eclipse

Paul Verlaine = The Frustrated Character

Pros: First of all, I want to mention that although this film deals with a somewhat morbid topic at no time does the film fall into a banal theme, Agnieszka Holland is a director who has made charming films and takes things seriously, the story is well maintained and offers a homosexual theme in the best possible way, David is Verlaine a bisexual poet who falls in love with another poet younger than the so-called Rimbaud (Di Caprio), we are told the stormy life he has following this event. There are some really beautiful footage filmed and so well done by her that it feels taken care of (such as shots, locations, photography), for example when Paul goes to jail, the truth in the way he narrates this fact and captures it so well that he really looks sad to look at; all these moments are not impossible to appreciate and the end of the film is so artistic, that I leave myself to meditate for several days on it, David creates a great character! A really solid one.

Cons: It will be hard to talk about negative things, so... here we go: Honestly I'm not a big fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, I respect him as an actor but as a person... not so much, seeing Arthur Rimbaud and his behavior in the film is sometimes annoying, during all the time I saw this film I think in my head: Why does Paul Verlaine have a certain mania for this guy?..., I feel that the script is a little disorienting in some respects because almost after the first 60 minutes it becomes tense to look and appreciate. Seeing both of them (David and Leonardo) for a long time tires me a little and I feel them too monotonous.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Resurrected (1989)
8/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#10 Resurrected

Kevin Deakin = The Straight Up Character

Pros: He's David's first character and he's pretty solid, he looks like a common guy, is the kind of person you easily identify with, and at least I feel identified with his behavior and/or feelings, since some scenes between him and his girlfriend are the best examples of that, despite not being a big fan of military/army issues in the movies, this one is very easy to watch without not being so boring, a solid film in general. Here he personifies Kevin, a boy who returns after everyone had believed him dead in the war of the Malvinas, but when he returns he realizes that his life is no longer the same, it is very empty, more than he imagined as if he had really died...

Cons: As I said before, Kevin is a very conventional character like all this movie, Kevin is not a bad guy, good, boring, shy or nerd, he is a simple individual like a normal person in real life and it is more than obvious that here David does not show all his skills and potential actors, however, the film itself does not seem to demand much, the script and the direction of it could have been more solid. Although the ending seeks to expose a message does not have enough drama to generate a great impact or enhancement.
3 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
An error has occured. Please try again.

Recently Viewed