Clapham Junction (2007/Here!/E1 DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: D Telefilm: C
Though Clapham Junction (2007) is a British
production about homophobia and gay bashing that is sometimes ambitious, the
telefilm eventually collapses into too many coincidences, formula and clichés
that have more to do with oppressing gays than really making the big statement
it thinks it is making. It attempts
multiple storylines, but they are never too complex and some of it does not
even make sense.
One is about
a guy who pretends to be gay so he can beat up gay people, another is about a
supposedly celibate couple that is about to experience betrayal, another is
about a young man who wants to play classical music and one that somewhat works
(but still has logic issues) is about a young underage voyeur becoming
interested in an older neighbor. It
eventually becomes too oversimple, overdone and collapses under its own
weight. Even the acting is uneven, with
some performances working better than others.
Actor-turned-director Adrian Shergold and actor-turned-writer Kevin
Elyot (the recent Marple telefilms) had good intents, but it does not work.
Skip it.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image was shot on video of some kind and has
all kinds of motion blur, while the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is adequate for
the audio, but nothing special. There
are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
