I had a big, soppy grin on my face from the opening shot right through to the end. It *was* lovely to see Colin all over the screen, and to be in a cinema with a whole bunch of people, enjoying it and laughing together.
It's a very English film, I have to say. Anyone who has ever seen a soccer match will respond to it. It's low key, gently funny, anti-romantic, occasionally exciting (you can't help getting carried away by the football excitement), and in my opinion, an excellent choice by Colin as a film to make.
If you've read the screenplay (as I have), you'll know the story, but you still won't get the full measure of the feeling or tone of it. (Those of you who have seen it, I'd love to compare notes). It certainly isn't black and white - I had got the impression from some reviews that it was about Sarah being proved 'wrong' and Paul being proved 'right', but it definitely isn't like that.
I've also read, as you all have, about how Nick Hornby had to 'sacrifice' most of his book and turn it into a romantic comedy. But the love story is very definitely between Paul and Arsenal as much as between Paul and Sarah. And the film conveys very well indeed what makes Paul feel the way he does about his soccer team.
One of the things that amused me most about the film was incidental - the scenes with Mr Darcy and Mr Knightley (Mark Strong) being a pair of yobbos and talking about soccer. Makes you blink, just for a moment.
Ruth Gemmell was very good, and her part wasn't nearly as unrewarding as I had expected - she gives an intelligent, full performance that really worked for me. One or two reviews have said it's hard to see why Sarah and Paul fall in love. I had absolutely no problem with that. The kid that plays Colin as a youth was good too - he looks a little bit like you imagine Colin might have looked, and as he becomes a teenager, he had obviously been studying how Colin walks - I recognised it immediately!
Colin was adorable. And funny. And sweet. Some of the funniest moments are when he is swearing abominably. The biggest laugh came in the restaurant scene - many of you will have seen that on the tape. Even lines that read on the page as if he is being aggressive or rude or impossible just don't come across that way, because of the charming way he plays them. He really gets inside the skin of the character. The moment where he holds up the baby - the look on his face, and the subtext you just knew was there - was adorable.
He looks like an unmade bed, and doesn't care, and it is exactly right for the character. The hair has a gorgeous red tinge, especially in outdoors shots. In some scenes, he looks so handsome you just want to eat him up, and in others he looks dirty and rumpled and unshaven and - well, not perfect looking. but totally human. I paid especial attention to the thighs in the famous Arsenal boxer shorts, and I reckon they look very nice indeed, quite respectable, if perhaps not objects of lust (!) - but he does have rather thin arms. I like that - it makes him more vulnerable and approachable.
He gives a lovely, understated, sweet, rumpled performance. Even the voice worked for me, in context.
Mr Darcy is the kind of man you want to fall down and worship in awe - the sort of classic good looks, reserve and romance and suppressed passion you just gaze at, open mouthed and misty eyed.
But Paul Ashworth is the kind of man you'd *really* like to know, a good friend, a sweet and funny lover, the kind of man you'd go to for a cuddle and a good laugh, and you feel comfortable with, and you can tell him he's an idiot, and he'll take it.
More (I hope) soon.
Lisa
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