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What was the last film you watched?
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<blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 437160" data-attributes="member: 23"><p style="text-align: center"><strong><span style="font-size: 22px">Plots With A View </span></strong>(2002)</p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fm.media-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FM%2FMV5BMGI2MzkxZjktM2U0MC00MzRjLTljN2YtNDYzMjFiNTUyZjlkXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=ad582c894b15586c60b69d21faade055ff79e743e84fbc6eb018be1f934ee521" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 581px" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>I had no awareness of this film, for which I blamed myself until I read <a href="https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/showbiz/undertaking-betty-plots-view-walken-22168568" target="_blank">this article </a>after watching:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The film was only released theatrically in Australia and at the time of writing had never even been shown on British TV. For the American market it was given the unimaginative title <em>Undertaking Betty</em> (an obvious attempt to draw parallels with the unrelated sleeper hit <em>Waking Ned</em> - which they <u><em>also</em></u> retitled), hence most of the poster images I could find online have the incorrect English language title. I settled on a French one.</p><p></p><p>The Prime thumbnail gave little away. A picture of two men carrying a coffin. I didn't even look closely enough to see that the two men are Alfred Molina and Christopher Walken, but I had deduced Brenda Blethyn was in it as an image of her face was revealed when I clicked into it. Walken is particularly surprising here, doing his usual Walken thing alongside stand up comedian Lee Evans in a little Welsh village.</p><p></p><p>There are plenty of other familiar faces. Robert Pugh - best known to me as <em>Brookside's</em> infamous siege gunman, but last seen in O'Dramavision playing an unrepentant antagonist in the brilliant <em>Priest</em> - plays an equally unapologetic sinner here, screwing his slattern secretary and confessing to his "dead" wife's body that he's carrying an onion to her funeral to fake tears when he's really happy that he's going to get a large inheritance to spend on his mistress. And playing the Welsh villagers are some terrific character actors (not all of them Welsh. Miriam Margolyes has a small-but-memorable dual role playing gossipy twin sisters with a spot-on South Walian accent).</p><p></p><p>Describing the film's tone is difficult. It's many things at once: a quirky black comedy about death and funerals; a poignant reflection of someone trapped almost comfortably in a life they wish had taken another direction; a pseudo-musical (there are several dance numbers, at least one of which breaks out into a fantasy sequence resembling a number from an MGM musical. Who knew Alfred Molina had these moves on him?); a heist movie about pulling off a daring crime; a revenge fantasy. The escape plot itself even reminds me of an episode of <em>Tales Of The Unexpected </em>that frightened the life out of me when I was young.</p><p></p><p>It could be argued that it's too many things, and the quirkiness will be off-putting to some. For what it's worth, I generally like my quirk in modest doses, but I found it worked well here, kept in proportion by the Welsh valleys backdrop. It's a place where people are unfazed by very much, which kind of right-sizes the impact.</p><p></p><p>I wouldn't call this an important film, nor a life-changing one. But it's really good fun, with great performances that sell its outlandishness. And just below the surface is a surprisingly heartfelt philosophical message told through weeds and flowers.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Spells & Karma, post: 437160, member: 23"] [CENTER][B][SIZE=6]Plots With A View [/SIZE][/B](2002) [IMG width="581px"]https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fm.media-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FM%2FMV5BMGI2MzkxZjktM2U0MC00MzRjLTljN2YtNDYzMjFiNTUyZjlkXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=ad582c894b15586c60b69d21faade055ff79e743e84fbc6eb018be1f934ee521[/IMG][/CENTER] I had no awareness of this film, for which I blamed myself until I read [URL='https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/showbiz/undertaking-betty-plots-view-walken-22168568']this article [/URL]after watching: The film was only released theatrically in Australia and at the time of writing had never even been shown on British TV. For the American market it was given the unimaginative title [I]Undertaking Betty[/I] (an obvious attempt to draw parallels with the unrelated sleeper hit [I]Waking Ned[/I] - which they [U][I]also[/I][/U] retitled), hence most of the poster images I could find online have the incorrect English language title. I settled on a French one. The Prime thumbnail gave little away. A picture of two men carrying a coffin. I didn't even look closely enough to see that the two men are Alfred Molina and Christopher Walken, but I had deduced Brenda Blethyn was in it as an image of her face was revealed when I clicked into it. Walken is particularly surprising here, doing his usual Walken thing alongside stand up comedian Lee Evans in a little Welsh village. There are plenty of other familiar faces. Robert Pugh - best known to me as [I]Brookside's[/I] infamous siege gunman, but last seen in O'Dramavision playing an unrepentant antagonist in the brilliant [I]Priest[/I] - plays an equally unapologetic sinner here, screwing his slattern secretary and confessing to his "dead" wife's body that he's carrying an onion to her funeral to fake tears when he's really happy that he's going to get a large inheritance to spend on his mistress. And playing the Welsh villagers are some terrific character actors (not all of them Welsh. Miriam Margolyes has a small-but-memorable dual role playing gossipy twin sisters with a spot-on South Walian accent). Describing the film's tone is difficult. It's many things at once: a quirky black comedy about death and funerals; a poignant reflection of someone trapped almost comfortably in a life they wish had taken another direction; a pseudo-musical (there are several dance numbers, at least one of which breaks out into a fantasy sequence resembling a number from an MGM musical. Who knew Alfred Molina had these moves on him?); a heist movie about pulling off a daring crime; a revenge fantasy. The escape plot itself even reminds me of an episode of [I]Tales Of The Unexpected [/I]that frightened the life out of me when I was young. It could be argued that it's too many things, and the quirkiness will be off-putting to some. For what it's worth, I generally like my quirk in modest doses, but I found it worked well here, kept in proportion by the Welsh valleys backdrop. It's a place where people are unfazed by very much, which kind of right-sizes the impact. I wouldn't call this an important film, nor a life-changing one. But it's really good fun, with great performances that sell its outlandishness. And just below the surface is a surprisingly heartfelt philosophical message told through weeds and flowers. [/QUOTE]
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