On New Year’s Eve in London four suicidal people meet on the top of a building, each having their own reasons for wanting to jump. The night takes them on a journey and they make a pact to stay alive until at least Valentine’s Day.
I was very disappointed to miss this film at the cinema, it came out literally as I finished watching Breaking Bad so pretty much-loved Aaron Paul. Plus it looked like it was going to be pretty good, now I have watched it my main verdict is that it was ok. It was different to how I imagined it to be from the trailers, but Nicky Hornby wrote it, so you have to give it a chance for that reason really.
It is a little bit more complicated than it first seems with Martin being in the public eye and been to prison for having sex with an underaged girl. Due to this the press are all over the story and therefore follow them all around. Oh and Jess is a politicians daughter, and Maureen has a secret she doesn’t want anyone to know. JJ hasn’t really told the truth either. So it tries very hard to have a lot of depth.
It’s a strange film in the sense that it makes you think about your life and if you are happy with it. What would drive people to the top of a building on New Year’s Eve to throw themselves off it? Many different reasons apparently and it is never exactly the same for one person. Perhaps that is because we are all wired up differently and different things make us snap and effect us deeply.
I think the story could have been handled a little bit better, but the performances were pretty good. I was particularly impressed with Imogen Poots she was totally hyper throughout and I even grew to like Jess after wondering what on earth was going on with her. Everything is going on with all of the characters that is often a problem too much is going on. It is reassuring however that they become support for one another.
It had some very amusing moments in it as well (you won’t hear me say that very often) but it is British humor and very British at times. Some decent shots of London but I think we could have had more to make it even better in that sense. I’m not really going to say watch or don’t watch this one. Maybe if you’re a big fan of any of the actors in it? You won’t be missing a massive amount either way. Just remember it is dark at times, after all the main subject matter in the film is suicide even if they do manage to squeeze some jokes in about it.
