Day 180: Confetti

In an attempt to win a house, three couples take part in a magazine competition that’s looking for the most original wedding. While working through their themes, each couple comes to understand their relationship in a new light.

For the wedding themes we had: Hollywood musicals, tennis, and naturist. The first and last sounded interesting but the second one was boring. Out of all the couples who auditioned (dinosaur couple, hello!), why oh why would you have picked the couple with the tennis theme? They are given the least attention by the wedding planners. That could’ve been because the theme was boring or because the couple were awful. Despite my issue with the theme, the actual wedding was kinda fun. I mean, I’d never have it myself but it wasn’t horrible. The naturist wedding was really sweet, and I’m so glad they stuck to their guns and were naked for it. The magazine bosses were completely against them being naked and it almost split the couple up but then they did what was right for them. The musical one sounded great in theory (I have a soft spot for musicals, I don’t know why) but the actual wedding just seemed far too much. If I was at a wedding that did this theme, I’d probably be cringing the entire way through.

The naturist couple, Joanna (Olivia Colman) and Michael (Robert Webb), had a difficult time in coming to an agreement on how the wedding should be. Michael had always been a naturist but Joanna was new to it, so she wasn’t entirely comfortable being naked in front of a lot of clothed strangers. He was completely inflexible about it, however, and just kept saying she was beautiful so should be fine with it. She did want to have a proper naturist wedding though and managed to find the confidence to go through with it.

The tennis couple, Isabelle (Meredith MacNeill) and Josef (Stephen Mangan), were just insufferable. If you knew people like them in real life, you’d never willingly associate with them. Obviously as tennis players they’re quite competitive but sadly they bring it into all aspects of their lives and don’t leave it on the court. He is quite insecure and he says in a counselling session that he’s worried she’ll realise that he’s not enough for her and can’t offer her anything. That does help to explain a lot of his behaviour but still didn’t convince me to root for them as a couple.

The musical couple, Sam (Jessica Hynes) and Matt (Martin Freeman), seemed to be the most secure couple. There were some stresses with Sam’s family but the couple stuck together through it. He helped her to find the confidence to stick up for herself and make the choices that she felt were right for the wedding, without giving in to pressure from her mum and sister. A musical theme seemed a bit out-there for them, considering neither of them could sing or dance. If I was to guess at their reason for picking it, it would probably have something to do with Sam always feeling like she’s in her sister’s shadow and her wedding day is a chance to do something big. And she did look like she really enjoyed it, so that was a good moment.

I wouldn’t watch the film again but it’s an easy film to watch if you’re looking to kill some time. There were some cute moments and the acting was alright.

6/10

Day 158: I Give It A Year

A couple realise that married life isn’t the fairytale they were quite expecting but they agree to try and wait a year to see if that’s what they need.

If you’ve both realised that there’s a problem and you know you’re not right for each other then why wait a year? Just bloody end it now and you can stop making each other miserable. Nat (Rose Byrne) was getting annoyed at Josh (Rafe Spall) for always being in the house and not taking the bin out/putting the toilet seat down, but surely they lived together before they were married so she would’ve known all this before now? I mean, it was never said if they did live together or not beforehand but who gets married without living together first nowadays? I just don’t believe that they wouldn’t have been aware of their incompatibility long before now.

There were some laughs but overall, it was a bit boring. I didn’t really care what was happening and the ending seemed a bit implausible.

5/10

Day 6: Tyrannosaur

During the film I was trying to take notes but the only thing I managed to write down was “This is just killing me.” It was absolutely slaying me. I was painfully sobbing for the majority of the film. It’s just relentless in its attack on your mind and emotions, pulling no punches. I feel exhausted and I can’t stop crying. It’s just fiction, right? Sure, yeah.

The film focuses on the relationship forged between Joseph, a widower (Peter Mullan) with rage issues and Hannah, a charity shop worker (Olivia Colman) who is abused by her husband. Joseph is lost and resorts to violence at the slightest opportunity but sees in Hannah the opportunity for change. That is until he realises that she has a horrific home life (the first we see of it is her husband urinating on her as she pretends to be asleep) and so is not the perfect thing he think will help him. Despite having trouble coping with helping her after being alone for so long he makes her feel safe which must’ve seemed impossible to her not too long ago. However, it is not for long as she is taken away and Joseph is left to deteriorate further. It all culminates when his friend, a local kid, gets attacked by a dog. Joseph “goes native” as he puts it, cuts the dogs head off and sits with it in his lap in front of the owner. After spending time in prison for it he is making a change and appears to be doing better. He visits Hannah and you can see that despite their circumstances they are much better off than they were before.

Throughout the film, Joseph blows up at the slightest provocation but right after it you can see he deeply regrets it. It’s nigh on impossible to escape destructive habits once they're so deeply embedded in your everyday life and you think you’re “not a nice human being.” You’re not a bad person, Joseph. You have done bad things but that doesn’t make you a bad person. I think, right where it matters, you’re a good person. You’re a good person. You are a good person.

10/10