Simply A Masterpiece

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This is a personal story, through the eyes of an innocent Scottish child. The movie follows the tradition of pearls like My Life As A Gog, and When Father Was Away On Business (Emir Kusturica).Hugh Hudson that had quite too few movies (maybe due to the unsuccessful Revolution.In this movie Hudson returns to the Scottish Highlands that he treated so well in Chariots of Fire. This Scottish delight is dedicated to the late Ian Charlson of the Cariots, who portrayed so well the Christian spirit that is evident in this one.

Another lottery-funded, over-produced yet well-acted film about rich British people doing nothing apart from slightly eccentric episodes set to an over bearing score. Imagine Kenneth Brannagh doing 1920s Scotland. Does contain some slightly amusing plot devices but nothing of any significance happens. The fact that this was based on a true story about a boy who grew up to be sort of important didn't help me at least. It's not a bad film but it says nothing and does nothing new. Could have been made for much-much less money for TV but apparently some charities didn't want their lottery money. A bit more content, heart and soul would have made the difference.

With an accomplished cast and some good reviews, I expected much more from this movie. Hoping for something along the lines of the great "My Life as a Dog", instead I found a stilted disjointed movie with no real soul. Malcolm McDowell was very good, but most other characters were two-dimensional, and the father, who apparently was a madcap inventor, comes across as a humorless corporate manager.

Many summaries have described this film's plot as a love triangle that occurs in turn-of-the-century Scotland. Nonsense. What is this tendency to pigeonhole films by the time and placein which they occurred? Maybe its because of Hollow-wood's tendency to create shallow "costume dramas." If a film has any merit at all, it is because it TRANSCENDS its setting, and speaks to its audience, whoever and wherever they are. "My Life So Far" is a story of the intellectual development of a very bright child. His piecing together and puzzling out of the complex emotions of the people around him, in addition to his own feelings and experiences, and the information he receives via overheard conversations, books, music and so forth are interesting and original and seem totally spontaneous. It is a joy to experience what he experiences. The ensemble acting is effortless, especially the child actor, who is so spontaneous and self-absorbed, you feel you are a member of the family, not an onlooker. Production values are sterling. The shots of the huge Scottish castle and its beautiful lands are somehow comforting. (This is neither a child's film, nor an adult's film. "My Life So Far" doesn't really have a niche, and that may be why it has not been widely distributed). It is a film to see to renew your memories of being a child and to cause you to meditate on what daily life can be like for a child who is alert, intelligent, and surrounded by love and a good home.