It's a well crafted and fun watch that's as smooth as the sip of a first pint and on its own, just as pointless.
I watched with a fan of puzzles who wanted to see it as a result of all the trailer lines that this movie has in it. And for her, it satisfied, all except the ending. I get that the ending can't be Kelly MacDonald's character having another strong man take her under his wing, however the politics of her actually taking him for a ride, using and abusing him and then leaving him when she needs him, is quite tough to swallow.
Without learning anything about this tender lost soul (Irrfan Khan) we're left to wonder why his wife left him, why he's bereft of ideas, how much and for what reasons he loved Kelly MacDonald. I kept waiting for these pieces like a puzzle to fall in to place and the movie resists us. It may have been trying to avoid cliche and show him as part of her growth, and centre the film around her blossoming in to a strong independent person, but then they should have thought about making him less likeable and relatable, fun, and in desperate need of companionship. It feels like her journey was almost entirely selfish, breaking the hearts of two men in the process, one of whom they have to make slightly aggressive in an ugly, ham-fisted way.
This leads in to the messy ending that feels unearned and undermined by the preceding few minutes. And while it's nice to see a film about someone slightly different without having to label her with a malady of some kind, it's a wash with not knowing what story it wants to tell and what film it wants to be. In terms of pacing and photography it looks like an affordable little film made extremely well. And I have to say for the most part I did enjoy it. But the pieces did not all fall together perfectly and unfortunately Puzzle is missing a few pieces hardyhardyhar etc etc guffaw aren't i funny.
I watched with a fan of puzzles who wanted to see it as a result of all the trailer lines that this movie has in it. And for her, it satisfied, all except the ending. I get that the ending can't be Kelly MacDonald's character having another strong man take her under his wing, however the politics of her actually taking him for a ride, using and abusing him and then leaving him when she needs him, is quite tough to swallow.
Without learning anything about this tender lost soul (Irrfan Khan) we're left to wonder why his wife left him, why he's bereft of ideas, how much and for what reasons he loved Kelly MacDonald. I kept waiting for these pieces like a puzzle to fall in to place and the movie resists us. It may have been trying to avoid cliche and show him as part of her growth, and centre the film around her blossoming in to a strong independent person, but then they should have thought about making him less likeable and relatable, fun, and in desperate need of companionship. It feels like her journey was almost entirely selfish, breaking the hearts of two men in the process, one of whom they have to make slightly aggressive in an ugly, ham-fisted way.
This leads in to the messy ending that feels unearned and undermined by the preceding few minutes. And while it's nice to see a film about someone slightly different without having to label her with a malady of some kind, it's a wash with not knowing what story it wants to tell and what film it wants to be. In terms of pacing and photography it looks like an affordable little film made extremely well. And I have to say for the most part I did enjoy it. But the pieces did not all fall together perfectly and unfortunately Puzzle is missing a few pieces hardyhardyhar etc etc guffaw aren't i funny.