Still (2014) Reviews

• Shill Would Be A Better Title Judging by This Page

  Theo Robertson2015-05-12

  There's two things the Brits do better than anyone else . One is grief whoring where someone feels the need to think themselves better than anyone else by embarking on a very public display of beating themselves up and wailing because something terrible has happened such as the death of someone thy have never met say a Princess or a soldier in HM forces in the 'Stan . The other one is grief porn where film makers try to make the most disturbing and depressing film in the history of cinema and I can name you umpteen films off the top of my head , all of which are British that belong on the grief porn list . Add STILL to that list !!!! SUGGESTIVE SPOILERS !!!!! Written and directed by Simon Blake STILL is marketed as a tough gritty urban thriller but isn't really anything of the sort . It does allude to being a vigilante thriller of a man called Tom Carver striking back against a criminal gang but this subplot doesn't really make an appearance until about twenty minutes from the end . Before then we have to endure a storyline of a man experiencing loss , drinking too much and trying to get on with his life . It might have been better if Blake tried to make up his mind what type of film he was making here because everything is slightly confused gives out confused messages . Is it a brooding introspective drama featuring loss or a tough vigilante thriller ? It' both and neither and nothing it does is successful in anyway and is populated by unlikable distant often stupid characters This is personified by the criminal gang in question . They follow Tom around and right away the audience know this is leading somewhere . Indeed it does lead to something , harassment followed by a hate campaign followed by nastiness but when the film reveals its final hand after Tom has kidnapped the ring leader you'll be asking yourself why they did all this in the first place ? There's no real motivation behind any of this except to push the story forward . To be fair you do understand Tom's motives but it's one of absolute haphazard thinking and you can see the flaws in his plan and I wonder if Blake is suggesting Tom should have let the law deal with but like so much else in the film this aspect is rather confused and unlikely Oh and one thing I noticed on this page is the number of fake reviews no doubt written by people who worked on STILL where they have given the film ten out of ten and consider the film an unforgettable experience etc . Guys if you're going to plug your own film it's a good idea to set up an account well in advance and comment on a few other films . If you set up a account as soon as the movie has its limited release and it's the only film you comment on in your entire life then unfortunately it's a bit too obvious that you're a shill

• Yawnfest

  Chxface2015-07-18

  I admit, I tuned in to see Petyr "littlefinger" Baelish in another role. I really like his acting in GoT and also this. And that is about all I liked. A pet peeve of mine is when audio in a movie is too soft and/or muddled and you miss half of what is going on. This started that way and 1/2 the time I was like WTF are they saying?? Does no one watch the final cut before it's released to make sure everything is understandable? Ugh So the deal is this guy gets bothered by this gang of teens. I wouldn't use the word horrifying like others. For example, they rape his GF but you don't see it, she just tells him what happened. This movie won't shock you in any way. He ends up capturing the leader of this gang and ends up killing him but not before this kid tells him that (Aiden's) deceased son was actually a thug himself and up to no good. Bored yet! Yeah. Me too. Hence my 3 star rating. Don't bother with this movie, you can definitely find better ones. Side note: I know other reviews say this a gritty movie and it's a roller coaster ride, blah blah blah. I mean, did they actually watch this movie cuz it sorta sucks. Just sayin'.

• Dark but loses its way

  j_smith_72015-05-23

  Tom's a complex character. If he wasn't written that way, Aidan Gillen (reviewers - that's his name...I see hardly any of you spelled it correctly) makes him so. Tom didn't have to be so complex but, where would we be if a movie set out to show us the humdrum nature of your life and mine? We need fantasy, right? Even when the fantasy is this dark and, to be frank, pointlessly so. Tom's got a beautiful ex (played by the beautiful Amanda Mealing); he has a beautiful live in lover (played by the beautiful Elodie Yung); and he has a beautiful business agent (played by the beautiful Caroline Ford). In sum, this deadbeat fart of a nothing human being is surrounded by beautiful women who, for whatever unfathomable reason, find him irresistible (at least to begin with). He isn't. He's a prick. Tom's best bud is Ed. No-one likes Ed except Tom. But Ed has balls. Tom doesn't. It was Ed I felt sorry for. He considered Tom a friend. But Tom's a prick. Tom's a professional photographer. The only one alive who has not changed to using a digital camera. Well, he wouldn't, would he? Because Tom's a prick. Tom lives in the grottiest apartment in Christendom. It's in North London where rents prohibit anyone without either a high salary, or social support, living there. Tom has neither. Yet Tom lives there. He could have moved out in a heartbeat once his troubles began. But, he didn't. He's a prick. When Tom wants to say something deep and meaningful. His voice becomes a whisper. Just like they do in the vigilante movies. Tom's seen a lot of them. Because he's a prick. Tom's got a lot of trouble on his hands. He should have phoned the police within the first 15 minutes of the film. He didn't though. That's because he's a prick. Yet, because Tom's a prick, this film (ultimately) starts to work. Because he's not supercop Bruce. He's not ex CIA Denzil. He's not Black-Ops Keanu. He's a prick. And his prick mentality was pushed to the point where he decides he can no longer be a prick. He's surrounded by enough of them already. And it's only when he stops being a prick that this film starts to work. Sadly, however, it took far too much screen time for us to arrive at that point; by which time we could see only one thing - he's an angry prick. In the end, it is a disappointing and messy film. The street thugs are not nuanced in any way which just leaves the viewer wondering what went wrong in their lives. Or, put another way, how could these young men commit such heinous crimes in a society which, truly, has not (yet) reached the despicable lows presented herein. Moreover, the ending is despicable in itself - a grown man kidnaps and murders a 15 year old? What does that try to tell us about our world? Surely to all that we know, we've not reached that point yet, have we? I understand director Simon Blake has a theatrical background which may explain why the best scenes work because they are cramped into claustrophobic spaces. However, when it does not work (which is frequent), it's also because of the director's theatrical background. Small gestures are what the cinematic camera sees best but, all too often, it's not what it is done here. And that can also be 'seen' in the script which gets way too intense at times. We had no real reason to explain why Tom became the target of the street thugs' anger. No reason except to make this film it seems. In sum I have given this film 5 from 10. As I said in the title of this review, it's dark but it loses its way. Watch it but don't let it exploit you into thinking this has anything to do with reality. P.S. I agree with another reviewer here - some shill reviews have boosted this film's overall rating.

• A literal slow burn of a man's life

  quincytheodore2015-05-06

  Let's be honest, half of audiences are probably here to see Aiden Gillen (Petyr Baelish) without his trademark medieval backstabbing. It's safe to say that he doesn't disappoint, almost the entire movie is exclusively about his character's spiraling life and his capable performance makes for a realistically brooding lead. Unfortunately, the film has agonizingly slow pace and it would be about one hour into the runtime before the thriller aspect actually plays out grippingly. Carver (Aiden Gillen) is a father who recently lost his son. He becomes desensitizes with his surrounding, he is less invested on his job and his promiscuous side starts to show. It is about this time that he has an encounter with a gang of juvenile thugs. From trivial things, the confrontation escalates into much more harsher scuffles. The movie is a throughout reflection of the man's hidden angst and rage. Details about his personal life, simple resentment of the more apparent tendency to drink, are appreciated. However, the excessive exposure also creates plodding in the plot, most of the subplots are too lengthy and not all of them pay off in significant way. His relationships with his best friend, ex-wife or new girls are overlapping. At times, it builds the character nicely but others the scenes might be tedious with the same rehearses theme and dialogues. There is increasing tension later at the end. Aiden Gillen delivers a good acting as the deep occasionally sad character. This movie is more of a psychological display, it's a drama at heart, not typical crime investigation. While it has its merits, the narrative feels bland. It tries to build up into an impactful message or commentary about degeneration, but it does feel contrived as it uses unsubtle method. Still has good acting from its lead to portray psychological deterioration, although the journey there is exhausting as the approach can be heavy-handed at times.

• mumble, mumble, unintelligible, mumble

  M_Qtips2015-08-22

  I don't know if the filmmaker intentionally wanted the audience not to be able to hear a word of this movie, or if everybody just whispers to each other in England, but I have never seen the movie were it was harder to hear the dialogue. Everybody in this film quietly mumbles or whispers to each other most of the time. I'm three quarters of the way through it, and I can honestly say I don't think I've understood a complete sentence of anything I've seen yet. Considering its very slow pacing, it adds up to a gigantic snoozefest occasionally punctuated by unexplained violence. it's very gritty, it seems almost like it might be an OK movie, if any of the dialogue was intelligible.