Hope Gap

I once sat in a bar with my ex-girlfriend and Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain" came on the jukebox. "This song reminds me of you." she said. "I'm guilty of lots of things, but vanity isn't one of them." "No, you're not vain. It's a line in the song. Listen, see if you know which one..." ""You gave away the things you love and one of them was me."" "Yes." It's one of the saddest things anyone has ever said to me. But it wasn't true. She pushed me away, and I left.

The film is an honest, quiet, devastating story of the sort of love many people experience. The regrettable sort. People can live without the respect of others, but when that disrespect starts to erode your own self-respect, you need to leave. Some of us should never fall in love.

A decent film with good performances from all. The ending is lovely.

Hope Gap

The title put me off viewing this but when I finally did this was very good.

A tight script with even tighter acting, the great revelation being the total lack of insight Grace, played by Annette Benning, showed in her understanding of her behaviour to others. I am even unclear even at the end of the movie that she had made any progress on this point and this was where her personal redemption lay. I am glad she got what she deserved when the worm turned!

With that said it had great insight into the human condition and I really enjoyed the whole thing.

I'm giving this a hard 7 for the nuance of delivery by Benning it was an acting masterclass.

I think it was the accent (or something) but Annette Bening's vocal scenes were terrible and very off-putting. She reminded me of Maggie Gyllenhaal in that TV series a few years back (The Honourable Woman). The accent was very affected; like an American taught them the way they think an English person speaks. But in Honourable Woman, the accent seems to be more suited to the role. Not in this movie. Overall it was okay, but Annette Bening's accent was hard to overlook.

Bill Nighy is why I watched this. His strong performance was what propelled the film along and kept my interest. His character was the most likeable and somewhat reminisce of his character from 'About Time' - if he had endured an unhappy marriage for 30 years.

'Hope Gap' is not a happy film. I chuckled once or twice at some dark humour, but it was mostly depressive, such as marriage break-ups and domestic disputes are. The depressive tone was rather suffocating at times.

Annette Benning's character of Grace infuriated me. I felt quite sorry for Bill Nighy's Edward and Josh O'Connor's Jamie. I think its testament to Benning's strong performance that she could make me dislike her so much. The characters were all very believable, including hers. I'm sure many will relate to aspects of the film, or know characters like them.

It succeeded in accurately portraying three sides to the marriage break-up. I thought the poem at the end (by the son) was fitting and tied things together well. A well-placed cup of tea unexpectedly made me a little emotional too. The English coastal town was a nice setting to what was often unpleasant watching.

Good performances, well-written, but ultimately loses points for just being too damn bleak.

The plot is pretty powerful. It tells how a woman is in denial about her marriage. Annette Bening just delivers a wonderful performance that makes you care about her. The scenery of coastal Britain is very beautiful too. This film is a good watch.