paul2001sw-1 'Albatross' tells the story of a dysfunctional family (living in the Isle of Man) and all the cliches are on display: louche, middle-aged writer as a father; sympathetic, intelligent daughter; troubled, troublesome and sexy daughter's best friend; younger child with the knack of saying inappropriate things; mother-turned-harridan by the stresses of keepinng them all together. The soundtrack is obvious and plodding, too, and while the gorgeous Manx landscape is attractively filmed, I'm a bit baffled by the fact that characters apparently leave the island not by ferry or air, but by road. The ending is also bizarre, the "best friend" has supposedly wanted to be a writer, but having done nothing to encourage us to take that ambition seriously, the film suddenly asks it to serve as the crux of the its dramatic climax. Sadly, I've seen more offensive and incompetant movies, I've seen few with less orginality.

SnoopyStyle Emelia Conan Doyle (Jessica Brown Findlay) claims to be a descendant of the great writer Arthur Conan Doyle. She takes a cleaning job at a seaside hotel owned by Jonathan Fischer (Sebastian Koch). He's struggling with writer's block and holed up in the attic. He has combative wife Joa (Julia Ormond), bookish daughter Beth (Felicity Jones), and six year old Posy. Emelia befriends Beth who is applying for Oxford. Emelia claims to be a writer but she can't live up to her family name. As Jonathan mentors her, they begin an affair.Jessica Brown Findlay and Felicity Jones are both lovely although this movie may be better if there is a darker, sexier edge. This plays more like a light relationship drama. The story suggests an eroticism that this movie does not have despite Findlay flashing her boobs comically. There is a darker edge that nobody is able to deliver other than Ormond. The story, the performances, and the tone don't completely click.

perkypops There are some characters in this film, there really are, and they are all so very different, and, at the same time, very alike. Emilia, at times quite brilliantly played by Jessica Brown Findlay, is the superficially confident teen who commands the scene and will not be put down easily. Beth, well played by Felicity Jones, is the girl who likes the rebel instinct of Emilia, but is waiting on a place at Oxford. The two girls, and their families, live in a fictitious English south coast town. Beth's parents own a hotel/guest house proceeds from the only book her father has successfully authored. There is much friction between Beth's parents.The plot develops around the friendship between Emilia and Beth, and then between Emilia and Beth's father, and takes us down a number of diversionary routes until we get to the revelations that make the story tie up its loose ends.Not entirely satisfactory or convincing as a film but it has some promising acting from its younger stars. Well worth a rental.

woofs A fabulous pastry pleases all your senses and leaves you with a bit of chocolate on your lip and wanting more. I gorged on this one. But there's more to be said for this movie. It takes a clever but easily clichéd story line and spins it out so freshly creative it makes your face hurt from smiling. And all the moguls with the money should line up to honor Jessica Brown-Findlay who took a cleverly written part and turned it into an award winning performance. But I must be honest and say that the TR-2 might have influenced me. When I was 16, I lusted for a bright red version on the showroom floor in upstate New York. How much better can you make a movie for a 71 year old incurable romantic who can still remember what lust is all about.