NICK: Do you think you're getting over the shock?MERYL: The dad shock or the accident shock? Do you think you can have two at once? Maybe I'm into 'bargaining' on one of them. Y'know, the seven stages of grief. What's the point in knowing where you're up to when you've still got to go through it anyway?This is one of
those clever-clever films that feature an ensemble cast of characters who are all linked together in someway without knowing how, in the style of Heights and Crash. Unlike the latter, however, I never felt like I was being continually hit over the head with a stick or that coincidences and links became too contrived or over calculating.Look Both Ways is a film that everyone who has ever thought about or dealt with mortality or grief can relate to. Meryl, whose father has recently died, imagines her death everywhere she goes - train crashes, drownings, STDs. Nick, who has just discovered he has testicular cancer that has spread to his lungs, is on the verge of complete breakdown. Their paths cross at the scene of a train accident, and an unexpected connection is made.If the film sounds depressing, then it is at times, but it is also very thoughtful, funny, observant and beautiful. The acting is first rate (Justine Clarke is particularly brilliant) and the direction is very inventive - Meryl and Nick's thoughts are shown as animation or sped up photo montages and it's a very effective way of showing what they are thinking. The use of songs rather than a music score was also a good decision.Finally, there's another link between two characters that I had almost forgotten about that provide a nice and poignant twist, and the ending is done just right.Fantastic.
March 27, 2007
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