New Year's Eve (2002)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Col Spector

Writer:

Col Spector (writer)

Release Date:

18 November 2002 (UK)

Genre:

Romance | Short

Plot Keywords:

Light Romance

Cast

Naomi Allisstone	...	Hanna
Elizabeth Chadwick	...	Flirty Helen
Cissy Collins	...	Woman in Gold Dress
Cameron Cuffe	...	Little Boy
Valerie Farr	...	Jane
Janet Hargreaves	...	Champagne Lady
Philip Herbert	...	Paul
Keira Knightley	...	Leah
Amit Lahav	...	Matt
Stephen Mangan	...	David
Bohdan Poraj	...	Michael

Runtime:

UK:16 min | UK:18 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Movie Connections:

Edited into Stories of Lost Souls (2006)

It's New Year's Eve and there's a middle class party to attend.

I managed to see this film in 2003 at the Kino film festival, along with other Britsh short films. I found this film....rubbish.

It reminded me too much of Richard Curtis, and that is not a compliment. Like Richard, this short film focuses on a main character (i cant remember his name)who happens to be middle class. He is on his way to, funnily enough, a New Year's Eve party, and the film begins with him and his friend in a taxi, chatting with a working class, stereotype cockney driver. They end up inviting the taxi driver to the party.

Here the middle class character starts to talk to an attractive young lady (played by the gorgeous Keira Knightley). She lies to him that she is 17, but later on we find out she is much younger. This middle class a**e who is supposed to be sharp witted and humorus to us the viewer takes a liking to her, but offends the host and is kicked out. He leaves the party alone.

It is rubbish because as a viewer I found myself impossible to like any of the characters. It was impossible to care for them. For example, when he was asked to leave the party he approached his friend who attended the party with him and asked him if he was leaving to. At this point we were supposed to have some sort of feeling for their friendship. I just wanted the film to end.

It was the kind of film Hugh Grant would love to appear in, again, not a compliment. If you love Richard Curtis type films, then this is a must see, if, like me, you feel that Richard Curtis is a one trick pony remaking the same script over and over again, who is obsessed with middle class a***s and is giving British Cinema a bad name, then avoid this like the plague.