BAD BEHAVIOUR
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
BAD BEHAVIOUR
Rating (Linear 0 to 10): 6.9
Date Released: varies
Running Length: 1:46
Rated: R (Language, mature themes)
Starring: Stephen Rea, Sinead Cusack, Philip Jackson,
Clare Higgins, Phil Daniels, Saira Todd
Director: Les Blair
Producer: Sarah Curtis
Screenplay: Les Blair (and his actors)
Music: John Altman
Released by October Films
BAD BEHAVIOUR could easily be called A FEW DAYS IN THE LIFE OF GERRY AND ELLIE McALLISTER if that title was commercially viable. Set in North London, this film is about the trials and tribulations in the McAllister household. Gerry (Stephen Rea), a building planner, is currently working on legalizing a local trailer site. Ellie (Sinead Cusack) works part time at a bookstore while also caring for two children and making tea for the veritable army of people who parade through her house and her life. Among them are her friend Jesse (Clare Higgins), a divorcee whose anger at her ex-husband is straining her relationship with her daughter; Howard Spink (Philip Jackson), a shady character who's always involved in one scam or another; and the Nunn brothers (both played by Phil Daniels), a pair of identical twins who are remodeling her bathroom.
Reminiscent in tone, if not content, to Mike Leigh's LIFE IS SWEET, BAD BEHAVIOUR can (perhaps unfairly) be pigeonholed into the "slice of life" motion picture category. The film really doesn't go anywhere, but the audience experiences an easygoing, amiable ride along the way. When all is said and done, little happens in this movie except that we've gotten to know a few interesting and witty characters. We come in on the story long after it's started, and depart long before it's finished. Nevertheless, it's highly unlikely that anyone will feel cheated.
At first I thought Stephen Rea was giving a rather lackluster performance, but continuing exposure to his Gerry brought a revelation: Rea had immersed himself so completely in the role that what I was reacting to was Gerry himself - a stodgy, rather uninspiring sort of individual. Likewise, Sinead Cusack dons her part with considerable flair.
Most of the humor in BAD BEHAVIOUR is dry, but there are a few instances likely to spark laughter (most of which involve Howard or the Nunn brothers). As is usually the case in the best examples of these sorts of films, there's an element of poignancy present, but it's neither maudlin enough to sidetrack the production, nor overt enough to lead to straight melodrama. Everything is kept in the proper proportion, leading to an energetic, entertaining movie-going experience.
Perhaps as interesting as the movie itself is the story of how it was brought into being, and how the characters came to be developed. If the writing credit above looks a little odd, it's because director Les Blair relied as much upon his cast as himself to develop Gerry, Ellie, and friends. BAD BEHAVIOUR comes close to being an improvisational motion picture.
Blair started out with a two-page outline of his story. Three months before the start of principal photography, he held meetings with the actors to flesh out their characters. From there, the writer/director developed a 25-page script that described the storyline, but contained no dialogue (the characters' lines were developed during the rehearsals). Meanwhile, the actors began immersing themselves in their new alter-egos, so that when filming began, no transition was necessary. Rea and Cusack had, in a sense, become Gerry and Ellie.
BAD BEHAVIOUR is an intelligent, insightful film that suffers only from uneven pacing and an occasional tendency to be too "talky". Once it gets going, the movie is intensely fascinating, but it takes nearly half the running length before the audience begins to get a real feel for the characters and situations. BAD BEHAVIOUR's strengths are much more apparent than its weaknesses, however, and it's worth a trip to a theater.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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