A Long Way Down

Felt like all the opportunities in the world with this premise and it went with the one that avoided the most poignancy. That actually makes it more relatable to my life. Oh God, now I want to find a roof.

Entertainment: 3. Spirit: 1. Sustainability: 0.5. Family: 1

Had funny moments, and it didn’t felt long, but this is absolutely not a good movie. I still didn’t hate it though…

I only saw this as the film I was planning on seeing at the cinema that day (I cannot recall what it was) was sold out. Unlucky for me, because despite the potential of the cast, this is shallow, uninspiring and lacks authenticity.

Despite likeable performers it's hard to like a film that feels so inauthentic. I'm no expert on suicide or those who attempt it but this film offered me absolutely no new insights on either. What's worse is how profoundly implausible the whole story feels w/ the characters behaving in painfully contrived ways in order to keep them together. What's worse is a young female who, despite wanting to commit suicide (as flippantly as possible), is actually a Manic Pixie Dream Girl in disguise.

There are parts that worked in this film but the parts that didn't work outweighed it all. The cast is pretty good, though you question the chemistry they share together. There is also an odd, change in narrator style format that the film takes which wasn't very effective. In the end, it's an okay watch, that has its moments of emotion but at the same time, it's easily forgettable.

Sort-of-interesting, sort-of-dull movie about 4 random suiciders thrown together. Poots is winningly offensive, Paul is silent and mysterious, Brosnan gets nothing to do at all and Collette is good but underused. The script tries to do some soul-searching and philosophising, sometimes effectively, but in the end I didn't feel like I cared whether the death-defying quartet lived or perished. So the movie missed its mark... but at least it was short.

I had never heard of the movie nor the book before trying out this movie about four people who meet during their respective suicide attempts. To be honest I was surprised I liked it as well as I did. With the subject being suicide it wasn't nearly as dark as I thought. I felt invested in the characters and was interested in learning their stories, even if they didn't all feel fleshed out. It's a bit uneven on tone, has some pacing issues, but I enjoyed the characters and the movie as a whole.

The book is better than the film. The script is not perfect and there are a lot of things that could have been done better. The cast does a good job with their roles. The cast makes you care about the characters despite an average script. Overall I would give this film a reluctant recommendation.

Strays from the book but I think it's for the better. I found the 4 characters to be insufferable wankers or simpletons in its literary form, but in the film I've warmed up to them. The actors work really well together as a dysfunctional, surrogate family. Suicide is the main topic here but since there's a great deal of dark British humor, it's actually more light-hearted than one would have thought.

#14#, story, cast

Mehhhhhh adored the book, found the film mediocre.

An exceptional cast with a weak story makes for an average film. Not entirely disappointing and still worth a look.

Quirky bit of fun. Worth a watch.

It's a fairly contrived premise, but it could have been saved by some clever writing. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is just as contrived. The dialogue isn't natural in the slightest, and the structure doesn't quite work. It has a pretty good cast, and they give fine performances, but they're not strong enough to get past how basic their characters are. It's fairly harmless, but I was left bored.

Just a bit of fun. Good performances from all, especially Brosnan and Collette.

Had potential, was nice, but came up a bit short

A quirky but endearing tale worth the trip. Though Bronson's filmography isn't the brightest light in the industry, this is his best since "Matador". And Imogen Poots continues to grow on me in spite of, and maybe even partially because of, her name. At least it wasn't an invented stage name.

Imogen Poots greatness

Great actors, intresting for a while but suffers from bad pacing and an incomplete script.

For a movie about four suiciders this is completely without edge. But not without a charm of it's own.

The story idea is probably better than the execution here although this film had some fun moments. Pierce Brosnan is on top form but I dont think any of the cast gets time to really shine. Toni Collette probably has the most interesting back story but only gets around 5 minutes of screen time to tell it. Its worth a watch just for Brosnan's performance alone.

A solid idea there, but the screenplay thinks it's cleverer than it actually is, & the four-act structure doesn't really suit. I love to see these actors doing their thing, but this mixed-bag mixed-genre minor work isn't the ideal place for that. Still worth watching, though, and it's entertaining while it lasts; it's hard to deny that I got somewhat invested in these characters, screenplay flaws aside, and as I'm a big fan of 'found family' as a concept, the emotional stuff often worked on me.