Movie #1010 ........................."A Long Way Down"

Movie #1010 "A Long Way Down" is a movie I wanted to see because I had read the book.  I was also anxious to see it because the cast looked pretty good:  Pierce Brosnan (big fan of him since Remington Steele), Toni Collette (always a big fan of hers), Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad young guy who showed what he could do in that show and this one) and someone named Imogen Poots, who, I think, stole the film.  The negatives?  not enough substance here at all, esp. for Martin and Jess's parts --- the film was missing the numerous interior monologues that filled the book, and missed a lot of the humor of the writer Nick Hornby.  But there's a problem with the tone anyway -- they are trotting a precarious line here because, after all, the film IS on suicide so how funny CAN you be?  Well, the book had a lot of humor, BUT it's always dark, and it had a lot of other substance in it ---- huge backstories on all the main characters, a luxury not afforded in this 90 minute film.  But I did like this film as a companion piece to the book --- it was nice to see the original idea played out in a short film --- that idea of the pact worked better in the film, than dragging the original premise out in a 300 page book.  I'm not sure how you can do everything (humor, good story, characters with substantial back stories) in a short amount of time, but neither the book or the film did that successfully.  I liked them both together, but if I had to choose, I would choose the book --- however, this cast was amazing, so when you read the book, maybe picture these people in the parts?  

A Long Way Down

2014R 1hr 35m    I give it 3 out of 5 stars

When a faded TV personality decides to jump off a London skyscraper on New Year's Eve, he meets three lost souls who had the exact same plan.

Cast:  Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Sam Neill, Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots, Rosamund Pike

Genres:  dramas based on books, british movies, indie comedies, dark comedies, dramas, 

This movie is dark and quirky