Mirren Burke delivers a fine performance as an eccentric comic-book artist in this gentle comedy from a first-time director
You should dislike Ailidh, the protagonist of this gentle comedy from first-time writer/director Bryan O'Neil. She's brash, childish and deliberately eccentric. She invents animals, draws wacky comics, treats her neighbours like amusing playthings. Un petit Amelie, sans the continental exoticism.
And yet, thanks to a tight script and a confident performance by newbie Mirren Burke, Ailidh comes off more endearing then irritating. Her micro-problems – stamping upstairs to help confused old Mrs Nicholls (Sylvia Syms), then wooing floppy-haired hottie Jacob (Rollo Weeks) on the way down - are real, even if she's living a fantasy.
Syms is wasted, as Mrs Nicholls is little more than a batty old dear. And O'Neil's portrayal of degenerative illness is simplistic - a kindly word and nice a cup of tea will sort that dementia right out.
You should dislike Ailidh, the protagonist of this gentle comedy from first-time writer/director Bryan O'Neil. She's brash, childish and deliberately eccentric. She invents animals, draws wacky comics, treats her neighbours like amusing playthings. Un petit Amelie, sans the continental exoticism.
And yet, thanks to a tight script and a confident performance by newbie Mirren Burke, Ailidh comes off more endearing then irritating. Her micro-problems – stamping upstairs to help confused old Mrs Nicholls (Sylvia Syms), then wooing floppy-haired hottie Jacob (Rollo Weeks) on the way down - are real, even if she's living a fantasy.
Syms is wasted, as Mrs Nicholls is little more than a batty old dear. And O'Neil's portrayal of degenerative illness is simplistic - a kindly word and nice a cup of tea will sort that dementia right out.
- 3/16/2012
- by Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
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