AN AWFULLY BIG ADVENTURE
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 5.8
United Kingdom, 1995 U.S. Availability: 8/95-10/95 (limited) Running Length: 1:52 MPAA Classification: R (Mature themes, sex, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Georgina Cates, Alun Armstrong, Alan Cox, Carol Drinkwater, Peter Firth, Nicola Paggett, Edward Petherbridge, Prunella Scales Director: Mike Newell Producer: Hilary Heath, Philip Hinchcliffe Screenplay: Charles Wood based on the novel by Beryl Bainbridge Cinematography: Dick Pope Music: Richard Hartley U.S. Distributor: Miramax Films
AN AWFULLY BIG ADVENTURE, director Mike Newell's followup to his international hit, FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, has little in common with that riotously funny comedy. Grim, somber, and chaotic, this film takes a look at life behind the scenes of a small, low-budget theater troupe performing in Liverpool during the late 1940s, with special emphasis on one young girl's loss of innocence. The Stella who starts this story as a generally well-adjusted sixteen-year old with acting aspirations is far from the dispirited, disillusioned young woman who ends it.
It's potentially compelling material, but the script and editing are a mess. AN AWFULLY BIG ADVENTURE is so badly disjointed that it never really gets on track. Entire scenes seem to be missing and often what is there makes little sense. Added to that, a crucial character doesn't make his first appearance until more than halfway through the proceedings. By that time, my patience with this rambling motion picture was wearing thin.
Stella, as nicely played by Georgina Cates, is ostensibly the film's central character--at least for the first hour. After that, things get muddled, with the viewpoint switching back and forth between Stella and aging ex-matinee idol P. L. O'Hara (Alan Rickman), who has entered the company to play Captain Hook in "Peter Pan" following an unfortunate accident to his predecessor. Neither Stella nor O'Hara really captures the audience's sympathy, so the shifting perspective further distances the viewer from the lives being autopsied by Newell's direction.
Anyway, Stella joins the theater troupe of Meredith Potter (Hugh Grant) as an unpaid assistant stage manager. The actors are a ragtag bunch--"the very best... for [virtually no] money"--and appear better at drinking and engaging in other scandalous behavior than in delivering on stage. Exposed to such excellent examples of human degradation, it's no surprise that Stella's own moral character goes into rapid decline. It isn't long before she's sleeping with a man she doesn't love while pining for Potter, who shows more interest in boys than girls.
The cast is top-notch, with only Hugh Grant struggling to find his character. There are a number of familiar faces on hand for those who enjoy British TV, including Prunella Scales (FAWLTY TOWERS), Edward Petherbridge (LORD PETER WIMSEY, version two), and Nicola Paggett (ANNA KARENINA). Despite the solid performances, however, the uneven tone and porous script keep the viewer at arm's length. Several attempts at comedy are off-putting, primarily because they occur at inappropriate moments.
A vast departure from recent Newell successes like FOUR WEDDINGS and ENCHANTED APRIL, AN AWFULLY BIG ADVENTURE aims for, and largely misses, a rich emotional vein. Stella's story is a tragedy with the sort of universal scope everyone can understand. Unfortunately, this film mishandles its primary subject matter. The behind-the-scenes wrangling of actors is entertaining, as is the sniping between Potter and the members of his troupe, but these are peripheral issues. And that's the problem--the movie doesn't have a clear idea of what it's really trying to do. The result is that AN AWFULLY BIG ADVENTURE is awfully unsatisfying.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews