Night Bus

It is amazing how one simple idea can be turned into something so fulfilling. Take last year's Locke and All Is Lost for example, where there are lone characters in just one setting for the entirety of the film. Night Bus is similar and snapshots London over just one bus journey in one night.

Refreshingly short at just 90 minutes, Night Bus is entirely set on a double-decker bus during one Friday night in urban (rainy) London. Populated by unknown actors - but all very capable - the characters are stereotypes of those that you would expect to see; late workers, drunks, tired, active, old and young. Plus a driver who has to put up with it all.

Capturing the intimacy of public transport and the mixed diversity of London, there is a plethora of different narratives taking place between the passengers. Relationships end, some begin and others thrive. It is just like you are a passenger on the bus too and overhearing everything.

Made over just five nights and with a micro-budget of £20,000 – Writer, director and editor; Simon Baker's feature debut is a truly charming independent film. The dialogue between the passengers is all improvised which gives it the natural chemistry and realism to keep you engage as if you are 'people watching'.

Tied with the glistening lights and rain-effect cinematography and sublime music, Night Bus is nocturnal and ellipses the essence of late-night London. Overall a cracking feature for breakthrough director Simon Baker.

Mostly boring results! You have the 'fly on the wall' point of view throughout this movie. The night bus passengers come and go as the bus travels it's appointed rounds. We the viewer witness conversation and encounters between friends and strangers. This is fun and a bit boring.

At movies end about 90% of the passengers come across as crazy, mad, stupid, frustrated, and confused! No wonder the bus driver stayed behind a plexiglass window! Everyone seemed on edge and about to 'pop'! I'm not going to write here that this movie is bad because it's not. The problem is that it never gets engrossing enough to save you from that feeling of boredom. Then again maybe that is the life of the night bus driver - faces come and go - and you never really get to see the person behind the face. The job is boring, the drivers main objective is to collect fares and get to passengers to their destination. What is happening in their lives is not the focus here.

We see the passengers emotional side and not their whole life. Director: Simon Baker & Writer: Simon Baker surely did this on purpose but unfortunately the end result is not all that entertaining.

If I learned one thing from my time at the London Film Festival, it's that the bus is actually better than the tube. If slower, it's way cheaper and way more convenient. I never had to take the night bus, but walking into Simon Baker's Night Bus, I know the type of diverse and cultural characters you find on a bus in London, though they're less talkative in real life. Here, the bus is the main character, and we're a fly on the wall by way of Robert Altman with no focus in mind. We're offered tidbits of arguments with Mike Leigh-esque working class and identifiable characters. Unfortunately, Baker has neither the maturity nor the insight for any of his superficial stories to bear meaning or satisfying entertainment. It boasts a cheeky and juvenile sense of humour and soap opera style arguments. Too often is one side of its many conflicts so clearly right and the other is blatantly wrong. There's no sense of grit to be found.

It's not that it's dishonest, it's just not coming from a terrifically honest place. It does study some fleeting topics such as racial tensions and it does make a point about the oppressions between genders, particularly in the way women can oppress men. But it's not intelligently explored. Instead, it focuses on a tried and true theme of connecting to people and how we can empathise with how we all have problems. If anything, it does leave you feeling that talking to strangers is good. The film is generally inoffensive and is a breezy watch for its 90 minutes. It could've been an actor's playground but instead it's showreel practise for all these semi- professionals. They have to deal with one-note characters, some more convincing than others. The cinematography does make the most of the tough conditions and is much shinier than this year's other notable road movie Locke. It's just not as well written and far less significant.

6/10

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