Indie Gems: Summer in February

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"I've made a huge mistake"

There's a point in this film where our lead, Florence (Emily Browning) has a total Arrested Development moment and realizes that she's just made an awful decision. I legitimately felt bad for her.

Florence is an aspiring artist who goes to live with her brother, Joey (Max Deacon) in Cornwall. I don't know a lot about British arts, but apparently this was the place to be in the early 1900's. She meets two men. There's Gilbert Evans (Dan Stevens) the man in charge of the prestigious Lamorna Esate. He's kind, gentle, and has an obvious crush on Florence. Then there's AJ Munnings (Dominic Cooper) a brilliant artist on the verge of being famous. Florence is drawn to him, even thought he is the 1900's version of a DudeBro. 

Admittedly, love triangles aren't really my thing, but Emily Browning is, so that's why I watched this one. I was pleasantly surprised. The movie was shot beautifully. They really found some lovely places in England to use, and the costumes were top notch. (How did The Invisible Women get an Oscar nomination and not this?)  Browning and Cooper were the standouts in this film. She's always been good, but her last few movies have not been worthy of her. Cooper was great at playing an asshole. This is one of the better period pieces I've seen recently and is definitely worth checking out.

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "I've made my bed, now I must lay in it." - Florence (Emily Browning)

Comments

  1. Angela NiteAugust 29, 2014 at 9:32 AM

    What a coincidence! I saw this film just two nights ago. I was drawn to it because of Dan Stevens and Emily Browning. I don't think I enjoyed it quite as much as you did but I appreciated some of the landscape shots and Browning was as good as ever. And yes I couldn't agree more. Her recent films have been quite terrible (Sleeping Beauty and Sucker Punch oh dear). I feel like she's in a similar situation to Jeremy Irvine. Talents lost in a set of bad acting jobs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 30, 2014 at 6:40 AM

      Oh, I know. God Help The Girl looks promising for her, though!

      Delete
  2. UnknownAugust 30, 2014 at 12:15 AM

    I hadn't heard of this so I was glad to come across your review. I'm really intrigued now so might have to give it go :) - Jenna

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    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 30, 2014 at 6:40 AM

      It must not have gotten a big release at all. I only came across it when I was looking at Emily Browning's filmography.

      Delete
  3. UnknownAugust 30, 2014 at 10:05 AM

    Never heard of it, but sounds good! I like the actors and the story seems lovely. Dominic Cooper as an asshole ought to be interesting... ;)

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    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 31, 2014 at 9:26 AM

      He's such a douche in this. lol. It was definitely a change from what I'm used to seeing him play.

      Delete
  4. JoshDecember 2, 2014 at 2:58 PM

    This is way down on my 2014 watchlist, but I like Browning and Cooper. I might have to check it out.

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    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 3, 2014 at 6:41 AM

      They're good in it. Browning always is. I watch her in anything.

      Delete

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