AfterLife

This film takes you through a pretty rough ride. First, you feel like hating Kenny, the career minded, selfish big brother; his arrogance, his bad temper at home, and his womanising ways. As the film progresses however, he is gradually softened by the irresistable nature of his little sister Roberta, and the realisation of what the future holds.

Roberta provides much of the film's humour with her cheekiness to Kenny and her mum. She also keeps the biggest surprise till the end with a clever twist to the story.

Rating: 8/10

Just a very short note to disagree with Andrew Whyte's (?) comment.

I didn't think this film had much to do with "Rainman", certainly it's about an adult with a very different handicap from the autistic spectrum problems that Hoffman's character had. Putting someone with Down's syndrome as a central and very real protagonist here is far more challenging than putting someone with autistic problems centrally and I thought the film, as well as the actress, managed that rather better than Hoffman et al. managed the parallel challenge.

I did think the acting in this was weak in places and certainly there's a lot of shouting. I thought the subplot about the brother having given up medicine was almost too lightly played but perhaps as someone who stayed that distance but always with ambivalence about medics and our delusions of grandeur, I would be sympathetic to that. Although some acting did seem stretched, I thought the handicapped daughter and mother were very, very good.

Not a great film and probably not as good as "Rainman" but certainly worth a DVD rental and our whole family, from age 9 to 49, felt it had been a tough but worthwhile rent.

This film may be low budget but it is certainly high on the emotional scale with fantastic performances, especially from Paula Sage (Roberta) who has Downs Syndrome. The film is very funny and moving and depicts Roberta in a completely different way than characters with special needs are usually shown - she is selfish, rude but also very funny - in fact most of the humour in the film comes from Roberta. The relationship between Kenny (Kevin McKidd) and May (Lindsay Duncan) is realistic and insightful.

The ending is very moving, a little twist had us all cringing in our seats as we awaited the final outcome. This film quite rightly won the audience award at the Edinburgh Film Festival with the highest votes ever.

Not an easy film to like at first with both the lead characters quite unlikeable but luckily the heart and soul of the film is Paula Sage's touching performance which drives the film into uncharted waters and transcends the rather awkward storyline. This gives the film a feeling of real truth and makes you think you've seen something special.(7/10)

I must admit I am getting on a bit but I enjoyed this film. OK you can knock it for many reasons, but if you just go with the flow it makes great sense. Cancer and learning difficulties do not seem go well together but with all the troubles and challenges, it seems to tell an uplifting and funny at times, story to me. I felt that it came together well enough to be a very satisfying view. I do love stories that involve Glasgow scenes. Spotted many places that I know. Even the old favourites like Saltmarket worked well. Thanks to all involved. Great Monday night film. Give it a try see if you agree. As I have to write another few lines I will say that Kevin and Lyndsay played their characters very well and were very convincing.