Maybe if I had watched this film in the mid-90s I would have enjoyed it more. Finding it in 2021 on Amazon Prime, I expected more from a BBC production, and was disappointed. The writing stumbled from one cliche to another, almost everything that happened was telegraphed and expected. The characters had little to no subtlety and behaved predictably. Maybe the style reflects television drama of the time, and we are expecting more complexity and depth now. Short scenes, mostly shot in medium closeups , were appropriate to standard definition television of the time, but the style feels dated now.
The almost universally positive reviews from others date from the 1990s, so it might be unfair to review it from a much later perspective. A few smart lines here and there, a message that literature and poetry matter, some humor, but overall a miss.
The almost universally positive reviews from others date from the 1990s, so it might be unfair to review it from a much later perspective. A few smart lines here and there, a message that literature and poetry matter, some humor, but overall a miss.