Reviewed by Doug Cooper
Stars William Beck, Stephen Kennedy, Maureen Lipman, Lucy Bayler, Henry Hereford, Aislinn Mangan, Laura Morgan, Fergus O'Donnell, Richard Trinder, Hannah Wagner, Jodie Wagner
Written by Martin Wagner
Certification UK TBC
Runtime 80 minutes
Directed by Lesley Manning
A competently done conversation piece between two protagonists, sharply performed to be sure but unfortunately it doesn't escape its stagebound origins. This digitally-filmed drama is derived from a play and cost only £26,000 to make. All involved should be commended as it looks very good despite the meagre budget.
Beck plays a vacuous and untrustworthy literary agent being blackmailed by desperate Irish novelist Kennedy. The writer forces himself upon the agent when invited for an appointment and eventually gets him to auction his tome to publishers for a high price. Throughout the time they spend together we learn of their respective pasts and hear their frank discourses on literary worth versus selling out, what's marketable and who makes the decisions. The two performers play off each other with considerable skill, both convincing and watchable. Beck is excellent at portraying his character's deceitfulness and is brashly confident with ease, while Kennedy makes the author's plight believable without eliciting sympathy.
Unfortunately the central scenario simply isn't plausible, the blackmail scheme never a persuasive plot device, remaining resolutely threatrical. It could well have worked a treat on stage but the cinema screen is too subtle a medium. That said, the two actors are strong enough to keep much criticism at bay. They are well worth watching even if the film itself never satisfies as it should, ultimately lacking bite and surprise. One expects a climax with flourish but it never arrives. Lipman is wasted in a cameo and overall one feels that's it's never quite as rewarding as it should be despite the worthy efforts involved. But it's peevish to sound too discouraging. Recommended for the two solid performances of the leads.