Rarely has a lover of film noir gone so far out of his way to break the rules of the genre. Doesn’t director Barnaby Southcombe know the detective wears the raincoat, not the femme fatale? And she is supposed to be pure evil, not vulnerable and warm? And you certainly don’t cast your own mum as the woman in question.
Southcombe does all these, and certainly gets some of the noir rules right his dark, gloomy London looks utterly bleak and neon-lit. However a bit more detail in the script, and a re-write of the melodramatic ending, and he could have earned five stars. As it is it’s a brave stab at British noir, with lots to recommend it and enjoy along the way.
Southcombe does of course have a big head start his mum is Charlotte Rampling, who plays Anna, a lonely woman living in a too-hectic London. She is desperate to see her daughter Emmy (Hayley Atwell), but everyone seems to be too busy to give her any time. Anna decides to break the cycle by attending a singles night in the Barbican.
Gabriel Byrne plays the insomniac, crumpled cop Bernie who is called to a murder scene in the Barbican’s towers a man has been bludgeoned to death. He bumps into Anna, remembers her car registration and tracks her down, following her to another singles night where they get together. However Anna claims she has no memory of meeting him, claiming she hasn’t been to the Barbican for 20 years’.
The crime seems to have been committed by a boy owing money in a drugs deal, but his mum Janet (Jodhi May) takes the boy away to Southend where Bernie and Franks (Eddie Marsan) track him down, but something about the boy doesn’t fit the crime. Bernie seems to think it has something to do with Anna, while at the same time falling for her.
The labyrinthine plot pushes the film into a corner from which it has no way out, which is a shame as the first hour is excellent. Fuelled by some truly stunning camerawork of a steely grey and blue London, and some great Richard Hawley moody songs, it sets the mood perfectly.
Then there are the performances. Rampling pushes herself a long way as Anna, instead of the usual icy beauty we get a vulnerable, brittle woman, fighting against the ageing process and a city that simply doesn’t recognise her. Byrne too is good as Bernie, the exhausted-looking cop who is struggling to put the case together while falling for Anna’s charms it’s just a shame both characters are so lightly drawn, much more back story is needed.
Atwell is fine as Anna’s daughter, but it’s Jodhi May who again threatens to steal the show as a frightened, poverty-hit mum angrily lashing out at anyone who tries to communicate with her. Even Ralph Brown does enough to almost make fans forget his turn in Withnail & I.
Overall verdict: Brave attempt to update film noir which can only be considered a partial success due to a script that needs a polish. Fantastically gloomy visuals and a top cast can’t quite elevate it to anything more than average, but it’s a calling card for Southcombe, who is clearly one to watch. Be interesting to see what he does when his mum isn’t around.
Reviewer: Mike Martin