![]() 'On A Clear Day' made me think of quilt makers. Young, in their careers anyway, regardless of their actual calendar year age, but very talented. That is, this movie resembled a good student-like product from young and promising film makers. If they are young, or young-ish, this effort might bode well. I looked up the director and the writer online, and didn't find much. Overall, this is a pleasant movie- but it isn't a great one. These had neither a start, nor a finish- we simply saw one brief middle, as it were. Without discussing plot details, let me breezily mention the parts with Chan, the Chinese chippy guy, for example. Worse, those orphaned parts were never really stitched up as themselves- i.e., they never really completed themselves, nor made any real sense in and of themselves. Sure, we could accept a bit of non-convention, and even artiness, but some of the elements of this story never were stitched together with any other parts of the movie. But we do need some sense, anyway, of what various expositions mean. Many of the threads of the story simply go nowhere- not that we necessarily need a big plot-ish conclusion to everything. Some of the weaknesses, however, are how all of the individual components of the writer and director's vision are executed. It may be said this is a character driven movie, perhaps? And, all of the cast do a commendable job of providing us with the characters' humanity and depth. The camera lingers, the dialogue is written to enlighten us about the emotions (pleasant as well as despairing) of the characters. Another strength is the reliance on the humans, and their real-world behaviors, fears, and hopes (etc.) for the 'current' flow of the movie. It seems obvious that the writer and director had visions of something deep, meaningful, as well as entertaining. ![]() Some of the strengths are its attempt to tell a 'real' story, without recourse to shtick, cliché, or pop-star trickery so common on TV and in movies these days. The Port of Dover was used for the scenes where Frank’s family and friends race to meet him in France at the end of his swim.This movie has strengths and weaknesses. The production visited Kent to shoot at the foot of the White Cliffs of Dover where Frank starts his swim of the English Channel and the famous cliffs can also be seen in the background throughout his challenge. The majority of the film was shot in Glasgow. A successful crossing alleviates the family tensions. Frank trains with the help of friend and local chip shop owner Chan ( Benedict Wong) and former co-workers Danny ( Billy Boyd), Eddie ( Sean McGinley) and Norman ( Ron Cook) until he feels he is fit and ready for the attempt. Rob has a troubled relationship with his father, feeling the guilt of being the 'surviving' son.Īfter a violent panic attack, Frank realizes that he needs some focus in his life, and, after a booze cruise along the English Channel, decides to focus his efforts on swimming across it. His other son, Rob (Jamie Sives), is a devoted house husband who looks after his twin sons, while his wife, Angela ( Jodhi May) works full-time at the local Jobcentre. He gets on well with his wife, Joan ( Brenda Blethyn), but their relationship is distant. This, along with his grief still suffered over the drowning of one of his sons many years ago, plummets Frank into a deep depression. After completing the construction of the ship RFA Mounts Bay, Frank Redmond (played by Peter Mullan) and a few of his co-workers are laid off from the shipyards after 36 years service. The story is set in Glasgow, Scotland near the banks of the River Clyde. The filmed won two BAFTA Scotland Awards for Best Film and Best Screenplay. Featuring an ensemble cast, it co-stars Brenda Blethyn, Sean McGinley and Billy Boyd, among others. ![]() A naturally strong swimmer, Frank gets an idea while on a 'booze cruise' with his friends to swim the English Channel. It stars Peter Mullan as Frank Redmond, an engineer in the shipyards on the River Clyde, who becomes stagnant and quickly sinks into depression following his redundancy. ![]() On a Clear Day is a 2005 Scottish drama film written by Alex Rose and directed by Gaby Dellal.
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