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| Directed by Hugh Hudson; Starring Robbie Norman, Colin Firth, Irène Jacob, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Rosemary Harris, Malcolm McDowell, Kelly MacDonald, and Tchéky Karyo |
My Life So Far is easily one of those films that most critics have seen a few too many times. Some times such occurrences are not so bad simply because the films are so well made that they make up for the cliché story. Such was the case with Dancing at Lughnasa earlier this year, and such is the case with this film. It may seem like an exact remake of My Life As a Dog just with British accents, but it does somewhat stand out as being a nice little film with pretty good direction.
The film is about a young man in the Scottish Highlands in the 1930’s. Fraser (Norman) is a well-meaning child, it is just that he allows his imagination to go wild and his interests to go beyond most people’s fancies. His father Edward (Firth) is facing a small problem: the estate that his family is living on will be thrown into limbo when his mother-in-law (Harris) dies. Her whole estate is pretty much promised to her already wealthy son Morris (McDowell; delightfully cold), who cannot stand the family and would be happy to see them, including his sister (Mastrantonio), thrown off the property. There is another problem in the form of Morris’ young French fiancé Heloise (Jacob). Not only is she the beloved of Morris, but also that of Fraser and Edward, the latter of whom takes on actions in his infatuation. Morris and Edward quarrel throughout the film over both the home and Heloise, neither really ever getting anywhere until the final reel.
The actors are all rather good, with the exception of the cloying Norman and the overacting Firth. I especially like McDowell, who makes an early remark about Edward being a rogue, bringing back minds of his years as Alex in A Clockwork Orange. I did enjoy the film, including some of its sparse moments of fancy, but the film as a whole is nothing really special. Well directed by Chariots of Fire director Hugh Hudson, and sufficiently written by Simon Donald, My Life So Far is an adequate film, though nothing special.
