Sometimes Always Never: Film Review

Sometimes Always Never: Film Review

Cast: Bill Nighy, Sam Riley, Alice Lowe
Director: Carl Hunter

Irritatingly quirky to start off before quickly cementing itself as something like a cross between Waiting for Godot and a rumination on fathers and sons, Sometimes Always Never is a low key delight.

Nighy plays tailor Alan, who starts the film by meeting up with his son Peter (a downbeat Riley) and clearly trying to repair their relationship. (The reasons why are too spoilery to discuss here, and while it's not a massive plot point, part of the vicarious thrill of Sometimes Always Never is seeing the tiny details teased out.)

When Alan moves in with Peter, the strained bond is pushed further, but as events transpire, the truth behind it all becomes apparent...

As mentioned, the initial quirk of Sometimes Always Never greatly irritates, as if director Hunter has nothing else to lean on, but what happens is that the combination of Nighy and Riley begins to tease something out that's utterly poignant, charmingly unexpected and utterly and unequivocally moving.

Dry in extremis, the delight comes in the wordplay (in more ways than one) and the subtle nuances of the relationship between father and son, entrenched as it is in the English ways of relationships, where less is said than should be.

Nighy and Riley excel in this piece which is effectively about communication, the lack thereof and what goes unsaid in relationships. It's surprisingly affecting in its little moments as Hunter assembles the pieces on the chess board of this bond, using drained colour palettes and terrible interior decor to illustrate various moments in their lives.

There's an intrinsically sad whimsical feeling to Sometimes Always Never, but it manages to leave you feeling uplifted as it skirts around David Lynch levels of obtuseness.

Sometimes Always Never is, without a doubt, one of the low-key highlights of the cinematic year.