G:MT Greenwich Mean Time (1999)

A Disappointing Continuation

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

When they left school, six friends were full of hope and dreams of success. Four years later they are still trying but mostly their lives are still on the same track – with their same partners and playing in the same experimental jazzy funk combo. However when Charlie gets involved in an accident it sends shockwaves through an already troubled group; Bean goes off the rails when he sees his girlfriend with another man, becoming hooked on drugs and dealing; Rix get his girlfriend Sherry pregnant and has to try and hold the band together as Sam wants to drop the jazz aspect and bring in a new vocalist to become more commercial.Opening with the same actors supposedly playing 16/18 year olds, this film quickly moves onto four years later where, aside from school uniform, they look exactly the same – however this jump in creditability is the least of your worries in a film that never stops adding to the plot in an effort to replace real emotion with pace. The story introduces to a collection of characters quite quickly and seems to have aimed to be realistic of life for young people in London but, as the film goes on, the base premise is opened up as each character has all manner of tragedy happen to them resulting in the film feeling far too busy as it spins towards a rather overblown conclusion. It's a shame because the people are quite interesting at the start but the script doesn't allow them to really develop as real people and so puts them in extreme lives and covers for the material's inability to really grip and involve by simply having it move very fast and always having something happen on screen. It is pacy enough to keep watching though and I'll say this for it – I was never bored, but I also never really cared for the people or found myself involved in these lives.The direction is pretty good though, using London quite well without becoming a tourist trade film. The atmosphere of lost lives is well put across and it keeps a downbeat tone even as the plot twists become decreasingly like any life I've ever lived! The music is pretty good though even if it will probably have dated pretty badly in about ten years time – personally I quite liked the jazzy sort of jungle stuff and I like the vocalist even if she did turn it very poppy (which was the point I suppose).The cast find themselves with good basic characters and are left with the challenge to keep them real people while their lives become increasingly exaggerated. Newman does well with his loss and makes it believable even if he has little time to put complex feelings across. Shepard is OK but his character is quite bland and it shows in his performance. I did feel a bit sorry for Waters, whose character goes the farthest and becomes rather silly and OTT by the end of the film. Ejiofor is pretty good and works well with a lot more time and dialogue than he was allowed in Love Actually (hasn't he put on a lot of weight by the way!) but it's a shame the same isn't offered to Smith who is only given a bump to carry around and little else.Overall this is a reasonable British film but hardly any great shakes. It has pace and energy and it has tried to create an ensemble drama featuring 'real' lives but the emotion and drama is not as real as it thinks and involving stories are replaced by exaggeration as the film is unable to stop adding to it's drama. If it had been better written it could have rested on smaller events but as it isn't, it needs to keep moving for fear of stalling. In this regard it does keep moving and is never really boring but it isn't that good a film as a result but should please those who are easily won over by soapy dramas as the like.

Greenwich Meantime is one of the freshest, most invigorating films to come out of the UK in years. It tackles head on the issues and emotions involved with being a young person at the end of the century in London - living in the city, having no money, no direction and being in the same boat as many others. This is Simon Mirren's real strength - the ability to write honest, compelling and emotionally powerful relationships. There are several moments in this film which pass the 'tingle' factor with flying colours. I look forward to seeing Mr. Mirren's future work with bated breath and in the certainty that it will accurately reflect these times.

If you think this film is going to be another good modern British film to entertain you like Trainspotting, Twin Town and Lock, Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels...then prepare yourself for disappointment!The film has a very weak storyline, so much goes on that it is confusing at times and you never know exactly what period in time it is supposed to be...one minute they are sitting there chatting...next scene is 9 months later etc, very confusing at times! The film is much like watching MTV's "Real World" series and only seeing one in every three episodes so you never quite get a feel for what is happening. Overall the film feels like its trying to fill to much in, there are so many sub plots that you never really feel attached to any and some are just plain unbelievable. If the plot focused in on fewer characters then it could have been better.Some of the locations around London are well filmed but nothing really stood out. The soundtrack fits in with the atmosphere and theme of the film and is well done, although it wasn't "my cup of tea".The film it the biggest load of pretentious rubbish I have seen in years and it is not a film that I'd watch again. If recommending it to someone I'd tell them to wait until it was released on video rather than see it in the cinema. I should imagine the film will appeal to people in their late teens, any older then you may also be disappointed with the film.Greenwich Mean Time is certainly the worst film I have seen this year!

Saw it in Cannes. It's the first film that has a sense that it knows what it is talking about. The characters are moving and very original, played by some the best British talent to grace our screens. Wonderful sound track. My favourites were Charlie, Bean, Rix, Elroy and Ricky. The whole structure feels different. There is no one real protaganist. A real sense of style, without being pretentious and looking somewhat like an advert. You could not ask for much more out of a film than this provides...Well done...