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In his highly acclaimed novel NEVER LET ME GO, Kazuo Ishiguro (THE REMAINS OF THE DAY) created a remarkable story of love, loss and hidden truths. In it he posed the fundamental question: What makes us human? Now director Mark Romanek (ONE HOUR PHOTO), writer Alex Garland and DNA Films bring Ishiguro's hauntingly poignant and emotional story to the screen. Kathy (Oscar® nominee Carey Mulligan, AN EDUCATION), Tommy (Andrew Garfield, BOY A, RED RIDING) and Ruth (Oscar® nominee Keira Knightley, PRIDE & PREJUDICE, ATONEMENT) live in a world and a time that feel familiar to us, but are not quite like anything we know. They spend their childhood at Hailsham, a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. When they leave the shelter of the school and the terrible truth of their fate is revealed to them, they must also confront the deep feelings of love, jealousy and betrayal that threaten to pull them apart.

domino harvey wrote:This has Oscar written all over it

knives wrote:Outside of the copout with Williams psychosis I'm right there with you. Fantastic atmosphere, humour, and performances. That dream sequence makes me reach for the ceiling every time.

mfunk9786 wrote:Am I alone in really liking One Hour Photo?

Zazou dans le Metro wrote:Call me Captain poo-poo if you will but doesn't this all smack a bit of Merchant Ivoryworld. The literary style adaptation- earnest acting , over art-directed period detail- ooh get those tweeds and knitwear?

Matt wrote:

Zazou dans le Metro wrote:Call me Captain poo-poo if you will but doesn't this all smack a bit of Merchant Ivoryworld. The literary style adaptation- earnest acting , over art-directed period detail- ooh get those tweeds and knitwear?

I think, knowing what I know of the book, that it's a pretty clever ruse to lay out a very beautiful rug for viewers to admire which then gets pulled out from under them. It drops hints to the true nature of the story, though, through the repeated use of the word "donation" and the beeping checkpoints.

Zazou dans le Metro wrote:Call me Captain poo-poo if you will but doesn't this all smack a bit of Merchant Ivoryworld.

Zazou dans le Metro wrote:Call me Captain poo-poo if you will but doesn't this all smack a bit of Merchant Ivoryworld. The literary style adaptation- earnest acting , over art-directed period detail- ooh get those tweeds and knitwear?

The first big salvo in the Telluride reviews has come from MCN's David Poland who calls Romanek's film a "masterpiece." And adds glowingly, "[it's] a film we’ll be discussing, frame by frame, in schools, 20 years from now. I can only hope that this doesn’t mean it will be underappreciated now. This film feels like the product of Kubrick and Malick’s bastard son."

Variety is in the tank for the picture as well. "“Never Let Me Go is that rare find, a fragile little four-leaf clover of a movie that’s emotionally devastating, yet all too easily trampled by cynics. his gift for texture and tone shines through. Once again, the helmer seems drawn to the melancholy side of his material, directing the cast, especially Mulligan, to play everything as if teetering on the brink of a complete emotional breakdown."

Anne Thompson says: Romanek has "created a believably off-kilter ‘what-if’ world that is vaguely familiar but not exactly what once was,” praising the trio of actors as a “heartbreaking love triangle,” cautions audiences that she "cried buckets at this film" and adds" get out your handkerchiefs."

THR has mixed thoughts calling it, "a very engaging, if somber, story that has a surfeit of elegant elements that didn't quite add up to a great film as a whole. Mulligan, who trekked to Telluride for the first time last year with "An Education," is equally magnetic in a role that asks her to be silent and/or sad much of the time. Despite the restrained nature of her performance, she shows once again that she is a uniquely expressive and radiant film presence. Garfield, who is about to make a big shift into the mainstream "Spider-Man" universe for Sony, is also very good in playing an odd, somewhat dim but still heartbreaking character."

InContention is not quite moved, but they, much like everyone else, seem to think composer Rachel Portman is a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination which is nice to hear considering we've already heard the score and think it's great. "There is a distance here, a cold sense of removal from what would otherwise be an extremely moving narrative. I wanted desperately to feel for the characters and their plight (I won’t hazard particulars for fear of spoilers). But I felt nothing…at all."

Hitfix seems to thing the film is saddled with too much lugubriousness upfront. "What is most disappointing about the film is that the picture's tone is so sad and morose it hinders any real connection for the characters. You want them to have one moment of joy, one minute of happiness in their days waiting for their eventual fate (and there are told to be many), but it never happens (or is reduced to forced laughter at an American TV sitcom)."

Even genre guys like Firstshowing and /Film who seemingly could have been turned off by the lack of sci-fi elements in the film are giving it their thumbs up.