London is a very compartmentalised place and people get on by ignoring each other. However inner London in particular is also very crowded and gentrification has meant that the poor now rub shoulders with the rich. Will (Jude Law) and his partner (Martin Freeman Tim from "The Office") are architects who has done very well out of redevelopment which Will sees as a campaign against green spaces their current plans for the King's Cross area envisage lots of canals. They have even moved their own office to the area, but someone keeps on breaking in and stealing the computers (always Apple a bit of product placement there).
Will, who wants to get out of his elegant Primrose Hill house anyway, stakes the place out and discovers that the burglar is a very athletic teenager. He follows the kid home to a housing estate in nearby St John's Wood and strikes up an acquaintance with the kid's seamstress mother. Mother Amira (Juliet Binochet) and son Miro(Rafi Gavron) are Bosnian refugees. Will is not terribly happy at home due to his strained relationship with his partner Liv (Robin Wright Penn) and her demanding daughter who is showing symptoms of autism. So he goes to bed with Amira, who sensibly arranges them to be photographed, though she doesn't know Will is on her son's case.
Without giving the game away, things are resolved, though it must be said not in a totally satisfying manner. There is also a rather pointless sub-plot involving a prostitute (nicely played by Vera Farmiga) who has coffee with Will and introduces him to Central European rock in the front seat of his Landrover while he is watching for burglars.
Clearly the film is about Will and Liv and their emotional life, and there is a wider theme about the rich mixing with the poor, but I'd have to say at the end I'm not much the wiser. However, I thought Jude Law turned in a terrific performance as Will, who's not sure if he knows what the truth is anymore. I saw Jude in "The Holiday" recently where he was basically sleepwalking (which was all his role demanded). Here he is really trying. Juliette Binoche, is also excellent as Amira, who makes it clear that, emotionally deprived as she is, motherhood is her first priority. Actually, Liv is the same, but poor Will doesn't notice.
Rafi Gavron makes a very impressive debut as Miro, who just may stay on the rails, and I liked Ray Winstone as an exemplary policeman dedicated to keeping kids out of trouble or at least out of jail. Oh, and Ellen Thomas, Liz the mendacious school secretary in "Teachers", pops up as a children's court judge chairing a bizarre community justice conferencing session.
Overall, an interesting film, but I'm still wondering what it was really about. It bombed at the box office here despite the presence of Jude Law, so perhaps I'm not the only one.
Will, who wants to get out of his elegant Primrose Hill house anyway, stakes the place out and discovers that the burglar is a very athletic teenager. He follows the kid home to a housing estate in nearby St John's Wood and strikes up an acquaintance with the kid's seamstress mother. Mother Amira (Juliet Binochet) and son Miro(Rafi Gavron) are Bosnian refugees. Will is not terribly happy at home due to his strained relationship with his partner Liv (Robin Wright Penn) and her demanding daughter who is showing symptoms of autism. So he goes to bed with Amira, who sensibly arranges them to be photographed, though she doesn't know Will is on her son's case.
Without giving the game away, things are resolved, though it must be said not in a totally satisfying manner. There is also a rather pointless sub-plot involving a prostitute (nicely played by Vera Farmiga) who has coffee with Will and introduces him to Central European rock in the front seat of his Landrover while he is watching for burglars.
Clearly the film is about Will and Liv and their emotional life, and there is a wider theme about the rich mixing with the poor, but I'd have to say at the end I'm not much the wiser. However, I thought Jude Law turned in a terrific performance as Will, who's not sure if he knows what the truth is anymore. I saw Jude in "The Holiday" recently where he was basically sleepwalking (which was all his role demanded). Here he is really trying. Juliette Binoche, is also excellent as Amira, who makes it clear that, emotionally deprived as she is, motherhood is her first priority. Actually, Liv is the same, but poor Will doesn't notice.
Rafi Gavron makes a very impressive debut as Miro, who just may stay on the rails, and I liked Ray Winstone as an exemplary policeman dedicated to keeping kids out of trouble or at least out of jail. Oh, and Ellen Thomas, Liz the mendacious school secretary in "Teachers", pops up as a children's court judge chairing a bizarre community justice conferencing session.
Overall, an interesting film, but I'm still wondering what it was really about. It bombed at the box office here despite the presence of Jude Law, so perhaps I'm not the only one.