Hard Truths

'Hard Truths' features superb performances and an extremely hearty narrative, it's genuinely one of the saddest films I've seen in a long while; these type of real, gritty stories are always more impactful to me than the more manufactured drama (not that that's bad). Marianne Jean-Baptiste is outstanding as Pansy, a character that is on the surface quite unlikeable but due to her performance as well as smart writing it is actually easy to still care for the character; it's clear why she is the way she is. Michele Austin is also terrific, I couldn't put my finger on where I remembered her from - TV's 'This Is Going to Hurt'. David Webber and Tuwaine Barrett are effective in their roles too, arguably not difficult characters to play but I did feel for them both. Ani Nelson, Sophia Brown and even Jonathan Livingstone manage to stand out too, albeit comparatively minorly versus Jean-Baptiste and Austin. As saddening as this film can be, there is also a fair bit of comedy thrown in there - most, if not all, of which is funny. That scene with Jean-Baptiste and Gary Beadle sticks out, even if Beadle's character is rather over the top. The blend of humour and serious is perfect. For the third week running (weirdly, having not ever happened before), I got to see two films at the cinema back-to-back. This week, it was this and Drew Hancock's 'Companion'. Safe to say, two very different movies! Highly enjoyed them both though.