‘Letting go’ is never easy. No matter how traumatic an experience, how heartbreaking a loss, some find it virtually impossible to be free of its torment. Alan (Bill Nighy with a Scouse accent) is one such person. Obsessed with finding Michael, the son who has vanished from his life, he is untroubled by the corrosive effect his quest has had on his other son, Peter (Sam Riley). The film starts bleakly, with the pair having met to identify a body which might be that of the missing boy. In a hotel the night before, over a game of Scrabble – it provides the leitmotif of the movie – they befriend a couple who turn out to be in town for the same reason. And it’s at this point that you become aware of the off-beat humour that director Carl Hunter insinuates into so many scenes – the tale of the old lady who sold coal is a classic. It is visually jokey too, as Alan and Peter drive a little red Triumph through the countryside, but with the back-projection of passing trees accentuated for its fakery. Likewise, there are numerous shots where Hunter seems to have gone out of his way to unbalance or even discomfit the viewer through off-centre framing. Once you have adjusted to the visual style, which perfectly complements Nighy’s uniquely skewed delivery, you find that you have been drawn deeply into the story’s intimacy. Alan wins you over, as he does Peter’s wife Sue (Alice Lowe) and their teenage son, Jack (Louis Healy), whom he helps overcome shyness to woo the cute girl at the bus-stop. But the rift with Peter only widens. After Scrabbling online with an opponent whom he is convinced is Michael, Alan arranges a rendezvous. The ending, in which Alan belatedly discovers that he has not seen the forest for the trees, is a beautiful lesson for us all to be reminded of. With Nighy in top form and the ageless Jenny Agutter making a welcome return to the screen, this one is a beauty.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling.
If you are a local business owner help us and in turn we help you. All The Echo asks for is advertising, not a free ride. It is every advert in The Echo and on www.echo.net.au, which creates the space for all the stories and coverage of community events, happenings and concerns.
If you are a reader you can become a sponsor of The Echo. Your support keeps the us independent.
Even a small one-off or regular donation from you will help keep the echo’s independent voice alive and strong.
Support Us
Become one of the supporters who helps keep independent, local journalism alive in the Byron Shire by contributing anything from as little as the cost of a coffee each month.
You’re supporting The Echo, thank you
Your contribution is keeping independent, local journalism alive in the Northern Rivers.
Because of supporters like you, we can keep every story free for everyone — no paywall, no exceptions. Your money goes directly to funding our newsroom of 40-odd local workers covering the stories that matter to this community.
Tell us what you think, give us your opinion
The Echo loves your letters and comments and is proud to provide a community forum on the issues that matter most to our readers and the people of the NSW north coast. So don’t be a passive reader, email us your epistles at editor@echo.net.au.
The letters deadline for The Echo is noon Friday. Letters longer than 200 words may be cut. The publication of letters is at the discretion of the letters editor. Please remember to include your full name, address and telephone number.
Online comments are no longer available.
