Photographed with realism, well constructed, with superb performances
throughout and no CGI in evidence; the film unfortunately failed to go anywhere.
Classified as a Romantic Comedy by some and a Comedy of Errors by
others, it didn't succeed at being either. At the end of the day, it was little
more than a fly on the wall peek into a world of desperately sad,
superficially happy, people trying to find their soulmates for life.
The characters were far too contrived, and too obviously far too contrived, for
the film to be entirely effective. The characters were too extreme and
stereotypical for it to be believable that they would pair-off in the way
portrayed.
Fellow critics have claimed it's setting, London's Camden Town, to be the
star of the show. Whilst holding no particular grudge against the place, I
can't find it in my heart to agree; it seems to me that Camden was
chosen as this was believed to be the most likely place for such an unlikely
interwoven exchanging of partners to occur. A strange, and not wholly
justified, view I feel; I could personally tell you some things about love in
Camden Town ...
And love is what was sorely missing from the whole film. With an air of
desperately seeking something about it, the film left a feeling of
despair and even sadness. Much like real life really.
There were some moments of fine humour, but all short lived and superficial;
again, much like real life itself.
If you're lonely, looking for the ideal partner, desperate to find true love
and happiness or suffering the after effects of a terminated relationship; I
would seriously suggest not seeing this film.
Life's a bitch, and then you die. In that respect this film does make its
point. As to whether or not this serves any useful purpose, no matter how well
done, I am not so sure. It certainly seemed that the film touched a nerve or
two with some members of the audience; making them feel better ? I think not.
This is a very hard film to rate; depressing would be an all encompassing
adjective.
