Review: Never Let Me Go

-
Sometimes leaving questions unanswered is a good thing.


'Hard Candy' is a film that comes to mind. That movie asked more questions than answered them, and it worked for the tone. 'Never Let Me Go' feels the same way. Hours after seeing it, I found myself still thinking about it. Still asking myself "why this?" or "why that?" It didn't matter. This film is so powerful even without the added curiosity.

This is the story of Kathy, (Carey Mulligan) Tommy, (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth. (Keira Knightley) We first meet them as children at a very peculiar boarding school. Kathy is narrating, she's now 28 years old. She tells us how she always loved Tommy, and how Ruth got in the way. We also learn the ominous fate these children await. They are born for the sole purpose of donating their vital organs. The school they went to keeps them healthy, then sends them off to cottages when they turn 18. There, they wait for their first notice to donate, or they can work as "carers" and help other donors until they are called upon.

The biggest question I had was why no one ran away, but that's what makes this film so interesting and so intense. These people clearly except their short lives and don't question anything beyond that. They understand their purpose and while a slight glimpse of hope sidetracks them briefly, they eventually come to terms with their heartbreaking demise. Great acting all around by Mulligan, Garfield and Knightley. The children that played their younger versions all looked eerily similar to them and did a fantastic job as well. The entire film is beautiful, right down to the music and cinematogrpahy. Everything worked for it.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: A

Memorable Quote: "He didn't understand what you were doing, but I did." - Ruth (Keira Knightley)

Comments

  1. Ryan McNeilOctober 26, 2010 at 10:46 AM

    Part of me thinks this is going to be one of the most underexposed films of the year, and that's a pity because so many of us who have seen it have loved what we got.

    Couldn't agree with you more about the subtle performances, the beautiful look of the film, and its wonderful score.

    As for why they don't run, check out this post for the answer:

    http://mcneilmatinee.blogspot.com/2010/10/anything-but-truth.html

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen...
Read more

My Favorite Movie Youtube Channels

-
Image
Starting around 2018, I started watching Youtube for more than just movie trailers or music videos whenever a new one dropped. Now I'm in full blown subscription mode and don't bat an eyelash at watching a Youtube video that's over an hour long. I watch Youtube for a few different categories of content, but one of them that I love most is movie/TV essays and commentary, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. Below is a list of my favorite movie related Youtube channels. Let me know if you're familiar with them too, or if you have any you'd like to recommend to me.  Double Toasted - I'm honestly surprised this channel isn't bigger. I first came across Korey and Martin when they reviewed War for the Planet of the Apes a few months before it hit theaters and I thought they were hysterical. While their full length videos stream on Twitch, they often upload their movie reviews and commentary on youtube and they're always hilarious. They've...
Read more