Does any cast list scream mid-80s more than Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, and Meg Tilly?
It does a good job of representing that feeling of camaradre amongst old friends, and serves as a very neat time capsule for the period (and the 70s where the roots of their friendship lies.) But it doesn't pretend to be anything more than the mundane everyday loves and lives of these thirtysomethings. The soundtrack is also brilliant.
(Edinburgh International Film Festival 2019)
First of all... I like boring films. I love all 200 minutes of Jeanne Dielman. In 2010 I watched Joanna Hogg's Archipelago with glee. And I'll fight anyone who badmouths Kevin Costner's The Postman.
I even like Jamie Adams' boring films. A Wonderful Christmas Time has some great improvised lines (especially Sara Pascoe) and the lovely Black Mountain Poets shows that pairing up Alice Lowe and Dolly Wells will never be a bad idea. However,…
My 500th film (including short films) this year. And what a special choice for it! The perfect nexus between cool (hip hop) and geeky (18th Century political history) - something which somehow manages to give The Federalist Papers mainstream appeal. More than that. It has people paying the price of a secondhand Fiat Punto for tickets to a theatre show about the reorganisation of public credit to manage the national debt of a new nation. Amazing.
However, this isn't really a feature film. It's the filming of a live stage show. Some people hate these, but I really love them. So full marks from me.
