Wicked Little Letters

This British comedy is, rather like the content of the letters on which the plot is based, somewhat crude and unsubtle. The characters are largely stereotypes - the prim, god-fearing Edith, the foul-mouthed slatternly Irishwoman Rose, the misogynistic buffoons (pretty much all the male characters). Timothy Spall plays a nasty bully, and this, along with the early friendship between Edith and Rose, which breaks down, mainly due to his influence, suggests there is a potential for a stronger story here - if the film had been brave enough to escape the rather one-joke plotline approach. The use of black and Asian actors to portray characters in roles where this would not have been historically accurate has now become almost obligatory, but is still a bit of an irritating anachronism. Overall, the film does have its moments, but does feel like a bit of a missed opportunity.

This "based on a true story" film is set in early 20th Century England. But in their infinite wisdom, the filmmakers decided to impose early 21st Century mores with casting that is as out of place for 20th Century England as if Mr. Spock were there. This varies between distracting & annoying, but by any measure detracts from what we're seeing onscreen. On the plus side, Jessie Buckley's performance is the show - really a lot of fun seeing her chew the scenery. Olivia Colman is good too as the repressed Edith, but it's generally a far less flashy role. And, for the most part, the events of the movie are true, with minimal screenwriter embellishment.

Beautifully written script. Laugh out loud moments, wrapped in feeling and emotion. This film speaks to buttoned up and repressed emotions and feelings within the British psyche of 1920's Britain, and if reports of walk-outs from disgruntled viewers are anything to go by, the same emotional constipation is alive and kicking over 100 years later. It reveals the dangers of psychological projection in an endearing, gentle way. It reminded me of learning to swear with my mates as a kid and the laughs we used have as we invented strings of expletives. It was how we began to express ourselves and outgrow childhood, and how we learnt to reign ourselves in again. There's much talk of the film as allegory to the current wave of online trolling, but I find it closer to a direct confrontation to those people who still believe in emotional repression. The cast is a superb. Olivia Colman displays the feelings of Edith gradually, like a pot of water slowing boiling. Jessie Buckley is fiery, loving, sassy and outrageous. Timothy Spall depicts the effects of pent up anger with chilling effect, and Anjana Vasan is adorably polite and sassy as a Woman Police Officer. If you are offended by swearing and bad language, then you MUST watch this film, for your, and everyone else's own good! Loved it.

Wicked little letters From the outset you thought this little movie with the brilliant cast and clever script would deliver in spades, however the whole film was a very patchy experience. What was good? The cinematography was brilliant. The music was brilliant. The acting was a masterclass in nuanced micro-gestures. The characters were brilliantly drawn. Literally everything else was bad, the script railed against the supposed patriarchy of the early 20th century. All men were portrayed as idiots or some sort of longstanding joke and had a uniformity of superficial characterisation. Where as all the women were expertly drawn stereotypical types, the mouse, the practical, the religious, the sensible, the professional. We then had a comprehensive rewriting of history much in the way Bridgerton or Queen Charlotte was undertaken, with inclusivity boxes being ticked all over the place, this was a colossal distortion of the past and very very difficult for most viewers to make sense of this movie within its context. To my mind the most heinous crime was the lack of emotional intelligence if this movie was trying to argue the case of pre-eminance from a woman's perspective why would it then allow the main protagonist to choose a woman as her victim? This was nonsensical? It really was a psychological miss with little explanation as to the drivers and impetus for the action. I enjoyed the acting. I enjoyed the setting but everything else I loathed with a vengeance at best this is a 6 out of 10, it was okay but I don't recommend anyone going to see this movie.