On Chesil Beach

Realistic natural progression of a love story. Explores the cost and consequences of lack of sexual experimentation. So difficult for women. You're supposed to be a pure virginal lady and then suddenly be interested in a sexual relationship with a man when you don't even know yourself yet. I remember my own mother (who was married around this time) telling me this was how her wedding night and subsequent first weeks of marriage was. I thought this was beautifully acted and the pace allowed you to feel the inner turmoil the characters were experiencing.

To be honest, it's generally not my cup of tea. The thing that makes it so compelling is the characters' emotional complexity. I think Billy Howle delivers an amazing performance in his portrayal of a man who doesn't quite count the cost of marrying a woman he doesn't really know. He's incredibly sympathetic, even as his anger reaches something nearing violence. Saoirse Ronan is probably a top three actress today, so you know her performance is going to be good. But the writing of her character would have been better if it had more subtlety. Still, the character is interesting as someone uniquely suited to cause Billy Howle's character ire. All in all, this kind of reminds me of Ingmar Bergman or the more dramatic exploits of Woody Allen, and those are both good things. As with Bergman, everything is in the eyes and faces; as with Allen, the story is something of a tragedy. But unlike both of them, it still feels less focused and could have been tightened a bit. I don't think it's too long or drags; I didn't find it boring anyways. I also didn't find it "unrealistic" per se, since film isn't really meant to be "realistic" so much as believable. Thus, the world created is reasonably authentic and the characters respond to it in a way that makes logical sense for them. At the end of the day, my only problem is that it's not focused enough. The film would have benefitted from less dialogue and more interaction beyond discussion. When the film explores the dynamic between the lives of the two characters, how their backgrounds are so utterly different, it's really, really good. Ronan's character mixing with Howle's family are some of the best scenes. Unfortunately, there's very little contact between Ronan's family and Howle. And the little that exists is rightfully compelling. On top of reckoning with their sexual inexperience, it may have been nice if the film included the social pressure that exists between the rich family and the poor boy. Instead, that dynamic is relegated to a discussion and not an actual part of the story. All in all, it's a good movie, and if you like emotionally rich chamber pieces, this is a good one!

This movie had great music and a few poignant moments. The beginning was pretty good but as the movie dragged on it became very non realistic. I don’t really believe frigidity cannot be overcome and it didn’t appear that she had any childhood drama that would have accounted for it. The movie was a very boring bad trip.

I couldn’t stand the opening music as well as the back and forth with their thoughts. Only the ending was meaningful resembling The Notebook in some way. Sadly, I think the book must be better than the movie. It lacks attention to detail.

Dragged on and on. No there there.