Chris
A man on a self-destructive path. How come no one saw how deeply depressed he was? What he did was, in a way, suicide. And the fact that he was so peaceful and ok with dying makes me think he was in a deep depressive state, for most people choose to fight for life and not give up like this.
Technical Details
- Project Title:
- The Delinquent Season
- Release Date:
- 25 April, 2018
- Director:
- Mark O'Rowe
- Screenplay:
- Mark O'Rowe
- Genre:
- Drama,
- Main Cast:
Cillian Murphy (Jim)
Catherine Walker (Yvonne)
Andrew Scott (Chris)
Eva Birthistle (Danielle)
It's this constant fucking conviction that I haven't been getting what I deserve.
The Delinquent Season Review (Contain Spoilers)
When I first heard about this film, while it was still in production, the idea of a story of two couples and their marital problems sounded really interesting. I thought that until I watched the film. I hate having to agree with film critics, but The Delinquent Season is beyond boring. I know I am super biased for being an Andrew Scott fan, but I know when to appreciate his small roles if it makes sense to be so and when the story is good and well developed. But Delinquent Season is just a thing to please Cilliam Murphy fan girls. His character and Catherine Walker’s are the only characters that are fully developed, the rest are mere plot devices for the two, which is a great shame, because had Mark O’Rowe developed all four properly, this film would have been a knock out.
The film is indeed about four people. But he ignored half of each couple and decided to focus on Cillian Murphy only. Even if there was hurricane happening next door, he would rather film Cillian staring out into the air rather than showing something interesting.
Drama is about conflict, and this film avoids it. There are two couples, one always having a quiet evening at home, and the other having deep marital problems. One would think it would be more interesting to focus on the couple with problems, but not Mark O’Rowe! He chooses to focus on the couple having a quiet evening at home, super interesting! We learn about the juicy bits through Yvonne’s mouth, while it would have been much more fun having the chance to see them first hand. But that would mean time away from Cillian, so no. Let’s watch Cillian folding a duvet instead! And don’t get me wrong, I love Cillian Murphy too, he is a fantastic actor, and he played his part here perfectly. It is not his fault these decisions were made.
So, based on that we have tons of scenes of people eating or having coffee or doing some household chores. While one of the couples is having an argument and a wife is being beaten, we get a happy family dinner instead! I don’t think it would hurt the plot if he had focused on Yvonne’s marriage rather than Jim’s. The film would have been so great if the focus was on both couples, equally. Or even Yvonne being the center of the story, that would make a lot more sense, since most characters are tied to her somehow, she is the connecting point between everyone. Is it because she is a woman? I am sure that by focusing on her, Mark O’Rowe would still have had the chance to showcase Cillian a lot.
It would make the plot so much stronger if they had shown more of Yvonne’s relationship with Chris. Why didn’t they show their fight where he hits his head and hits her? It is such a pivotal scene. Or why didn’t they show when he told her he was sick?? No, instead let us waste time showing Cillian making the bed instead… There are so many pointless scenes that could have been cut in order to show more relevant stuff to the plot, such as Chris and Yvonne’s relationship. This way we would be able to decided if Yvonne is a monster, just using people or if she was indeed a victim of Chris’ negligence and lack of love. She could have blown all incidents out of proportion, but we will never know!
Of course that my suggestions imply Andrew having more screen time, but I truly think it makes sense. I would think that with or without Andrew.
And so many things make no sense here. Chris’ disease… what is he dying of anyway, is it really cancer?? I don’t know, cause I couldn’t really grasp. But Chris is in hospital and he has no drip on him, IV or anything to help him breath better, so why would he be there in the first place??? If he is ok he can die at home. And I have never seen anyone looking so good and healthy while dying. I think dying people kinda look like they are dying, right? When he was in the hospital scene in Pride he looked like a sick person more than here that he was supposed to be dying. Not Andrew’s fault of course, but to those involved in making the scene production, not the actors. I even struggled to realize he was in hospital in first place! I also have no idea what he is dying of, but I suspect someone who is on his last days is gonna look a bit ill…
On another scene, he is in the bathroom staring at some blood in the sink… I suppose he must be thinking: “Where did this come from?”, cause when you look at Chris, there are no traces of blood in his mouth or nose or anywhere… Where did it come from??? It really looks like the blood simply landed there from out of nowhere!!!
And what’s with the children?? Why do people think children have no feelings in films?? I was appalled to see Chris’ girls running and laughing at his funeral… They just lost their father, I mean, wouldn’t they be a bit sad? I hate this thing that people think that children have no depth and don’t grasp the meaning of things. If they are old enough to realize their mum is under a lot of stress because of the whole situation while arguing because of the pen, I am sure they would also realize their father just died and they will never see him again. He didn’t strike me as a horrible father that would beat them up or abuse them in any way. I actually thought it was super cute that scene where the blond girl is playing with Chris while he is suggesting having dinner with Jim again…. and it seems like the girl was happy too. Plus the scene of them taking care of the plants in the garden… Suggested something like love among him and the girls, so it is a terrible thing to do, to assume the girls wouldn’t be sad for losing their dad. Him and the blond girl hugging and him playing around with her arms is so cute and adorable!!! That really shows what a monstrous father he was, I would also be laughing at his funeral!!!!! Not!
But, in the few scenes where Andrew can be seen, he was great as usual. He has this ability to make everything that comes out of his mouth sound fresh, natural and improvised. It is such a shame seeing this talent being wasted in a film that uses him as a mere plot device.
Best Clip
