Cemetery Junction (2010)

Beautiful Story - 4.5/5

So I saw this film just now called Cemetery Junction. The film is a coming-of-age tale set in 1970s Britain that is brought to us by the comedy duo that is Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant. I always find myself going into films that either feature one of the two or is written by either of the pair with low expectations. It seems strange that the pair behind The Office could produce a film of any real meaning. I'm happy to say that I always find I am surprised by just what they achieve. Ghost Town which starred Gervais was brilliant at times and to a lesser extent so was The Invention Of Lying (although I did have some major criticisms of the film). Cemetery Junction has got to be the best movie to come from the pairing. It seems somehow strange that they can deliver such a beautiful storyline and flowing script but I think this film finally brought me round.

The film itself was beautiful in many ways. I enjoyed how the Gervais/Merchant charm and witticism was retained but surrounded in a seventies coming-of-age story. I'm sure the two used experiences from their own childhoods when they wrote the script as it seemed hugely genuine and heartfelt at times. The film expressed fairly deep messages in an effective way and at no point was it cheesy.

I think the main reason this film was so good was the casting of the main characters. Lead man Christian Cooke lacked some charisma at times but delivered a fairly solid performance. Stand outs for me had to be Tom Hughes (Bruce), Jack Doolan (Snork) and in particular the fabulously retro Felicity Jones who played Julie. Her performance was the most moving for me and I'd be very surprised if the performance doesn't help her on to bigger and better things. Gervais' own character as Freddie's dad retained the Gervais charm and typical blunt comedy which was nice to see.

A you can see by now, I found very little to fault this film on. The ending was absolutely brilliant and without attempting to spoil it too much for those of you who haven't seen it, how refreshing was it not to see a kiss for once? The film was one that left you with a smile at the end. Any film that can do that is certainly worth a watch.

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