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Sony / 95 minutes / 2010 / Rated R / Street Date: August 17, 2010
[Guest Writer Jeremy Guzowski is a freelance producer, writer and self-avowed movie geek. Practically raised in a video store, he is versed in cinema of all types, but specializes in horror. Along with Grey S. Wears, he is one of the co-creators of Bad Movie Day, a despicable tradition that celebrates the absolute worst that Hollywood has to offer. He resides in Los Angeles and is a regular contributor to plenty of AICN talkback fights.]
I’m going to go ahead and start by admitting something deeply uncool: I am not a Ricky Gervais fan. I’ve never seen the UK version of The Office. I didn’t care much for Season 1 of Extras, so I never bothered with Season 2. And frankly, The Invention of Lying was downright awful. I say this not to draw the ire of the hipsters, but rather to illustrate the lack of any bit of expectation on my part. Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I’m happy to report just how much I actually enjoyed this film.
Written and directed by Gervais and his long time partner, Stephan Merchant, Cemetery Junction is a warm, if sometimes melancholy, coming-of-age tale set in the English town of the same name. It’s the summer of 1973, and childhood friends Freddie (Christian Cooke), Bruce (Tom Hughes) and Snork (Jack Doolan) dream of escaping the meager confines of their hometown. Each is seemingly trapped by a different set of circumstances, and only Freddie has a clear-cut plan. Breaking local tradition, he seeks out employment from the town’s most successful expatriate, an insurance mogul played by Ralph Fiennes. Bruce, on the other hand, works at the factory, fills his nights with boozing and brawling, and dim-witted Snork just wants to get laid. While training with the company’s top salesman (Watchmen’s Matthew Goode) Freddie’s plan begins to unravel when he develops a crush on the boss’ daughter, played by the impossibly cute Felicity Jones.
Gervais and Merchant have managed to craft a charming little film, and their affinity for those long summer days of youth jumps off the screen. Dialogue is quick, clever and heartfelt when it needs to be. Credit to their prowess at casting as well. As relative unknowns, the three young lead actors display a ton of natural talent and chemistry to match. Specifically Tom Hughes, who manages to pull off a Richard Ashcroft-meets-James Dean quality, without falling into caricature. Ralph Fiennes makes the most of a relatively small role, as does Gervais himself, playing Freddie’s factory enslaved father. Another Gervais discovery, David Earl, pulls the biggest laughs as Brian the coffee shop owner.
However, the real star here might just be the costume and production design. I find that most period pieces set in the ‘70s end up looking far too “costumey” or fall too easily into camp. (Anybody see The Box?) Here, the costumes and sets are intricately designed, like another character, and only lend credibility to the film.
Where the film falls a little short though, is in the plotting. Events and conflicts are fairly predictable, as are all of the respective resolutions. Emily Watson, while important to the overall story, still feels a bit wasted in her small part. Additionally, there’s a scene towards the end, where Gervais’ character goes off on an entirely random and bigoted rant to Freddie. It’s definitely not integral, feels out of character and out of place, like an improv outtake that somehow made it into the final cut.
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