Flashbacks of a Fool

Last updated

Flashbacks of a Fool
Flashbacks of a fool.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Baillie Walsh
Written byBaillie Walsh
Produced byLene Bausager
Starring Daniel Craig
Harry Eden
Eve
Jodhi May
Helen McCrory
Mark Strong
Olivia Williams
James D'Arcy
Claire Forlani
Emilia Fox
Keeley Hawes
Cinematography John Mathieson
Edited byStruan Clay
Music by Richard Hartley
Production
companies
Left Turn Films
Ugly Duckling Films
Visitor Pictures
Distributed by Miramax Films [1] (through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures [2] )
Release date
  • 13 April 2008 (2008-04-13)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,107,542

Flashbacks of a Fool is a 2008 British drama film about a Hollywood actor who, following the death of his childhood best friend, reflects upon his life and what might have been, had he stayed in England. The film was directed by Baillie Walsh, and stars Daniel Craig, Harry Eden, Claire Forlani, Felicity Jones, Emilia Fox, Eve, Jodhi May, Helen McCrory and Miriam Karlin.

Contents

Plot

Joe Scot is a British actor living in Los Angeles whose once successful Hollywood career is flagging and spends most of his time drinking, doing drugs and having one-night stands. The only person he has in his life is his personal assistant Ophelia who is growing tired of his antics. He receives a call from his mother to say his childhood best friend Boots has died unexpectedly. Shaken by the news, he attends a disastrous meeting with an up-and-coming director and his agent. Joe learns he will not get the part he had hoped would restore his career and publicly berates his agent who responds by telling Joe he is washed up before quitting. Upset, Joe walks to the beach and swims out to sea contemplating suicide. Floating in the waves, he thinks back to the final summer holiday he spent with Boots.

The story flashes back to a teenage Joe and Boots. Joe lives with his mother, aunt and younger sister Jesse in a small town on the English coast. Boots has epilepsy and has recently had an attack in the cinema. Joe's next-door neighbour, young and bored housewife Evelyn kisses him in an attempt to start an affair. He later goes to her house, where she kisses him again and removes his trousers before her unsuspecting husband returns home. The next day, Joe bumps into a popular but quirky girl his own age from town, Ruth. She invites him back to her parents' house and he accepts, leaving Boots alone and angry. Joe is impressed by Ruth's affluent home and her parents' record collection. Ruth applies make up to Joe's face, making him resemble Bryan Ferry. They dance to If There Is Something by Roxy Music before Ruth asks him out on a date.

The following day, Evelyn convinces Joe to come into her home on the way to his date and they have sex. Joe arrives late to meet Ruth, who has been kept company by Boots. Ruth sees love bites from Evelyn on Joe's neck and storms off. Joe tries denying his affair with Evelyn, but ends up fighting with Boots who punches him. The next day, Evelyn apologizes for making him late but admits she enjoyed their lovemaking and asks if he wants to repeat it. She forces her daughter Jane out to play so they can have the house to themselves. While they have sex, Jane finds a washed up sea mine and climbs on it, causing it to detonate and kill her instantly. Joe blames himself, runs away on the day of Jane's funeral and doesn't return.

Back in the present, Joe wakes up as he is washed ashore. He returns to England to attend Boots' funeral but he is too late. His mother and Aunt tell him that Boots married Ruth and that he died of an aneurysm, leaving behind four young children and a lot of debt. Joe is taken by Jesse to the church graveyard to meet Ruth. She tells him how much she loved Boots and what a wonderful person he was but she cannot cry, even though it is the saddest moment of her life. Joe also spots graves belonging to Jane and Evelyn. Jesse tells him that Evelyn's marriage broke down after Jane died and she married a man who beat her. Evelyn later found the courage to leave but was killed in a car accident. Joe goes back to the house he purchased for his family when his career was going well. He listens to the same music he and Ruth listened to on the night they first met and decides to write her a cheque to clear the debt. He encloses with the cheque a letter, containing the lyrics to If There is Something. When Jesse gives it to her, Ruth initially refuses but finds the lyrics and breaks down crying. Brought down to earth by Boot's death and Ruth's grief, Joe returns to Los Angeles where he is met by Ophelia and hopes to start his career afresh.

Cast

Production

The film was mainly shot in Cape Town in South Africa, and England. [3] Flashbacks of a Fool was director Baillie Walsh's first feature film. Walsh had directed music videos for, among others, Massive Attack, Oasis and INXS. [4] The cinematography for the film was done by John Mathieson, who shot for films such as Gladiator , Matchstick Men and Kingdom of Heaven . [5]

Reception

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports a 38% approval rating based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 4.54/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Despite Daniel Craig's earnest efforts, Flashbacks of a Fool suffers from an ambitious but underdeveloped script". [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claire Forlani</span> British actress (born 1971)

Claire Antonia Forlani is an English actress. She became known in the mid-1990s for her leading role in the film Mallrats, and in the Jean-Michel Basquiat 1996 biopic, Basquiat. In 1998, she achieved wide recognition for starring in the fantasy romance film Meet Joe Black (1998). Other notable films include Mystery Men (1998), Boys and Girls (2000), Antitrust (2001), The Medallion (2003) and In the Name of the King (2007). Forlani also has appeared in numerous TV films and series, including a starring role on the historical-fantasy-drama series Camelot, and recurring roles on the CBS action series CSI: NY, NCIS: Los Angeles, and Hawaii Five-0. She played the role of Meredith Newman in the 2019 film Five Feet Apart.

<i>Meet Joe Black</i> 1998 American romantic fantasy film by Martin Brest

Meet Joe Black is a 1998 American romantic fantasy film directed and produced by Martin Brest, and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, and Claire Forlani. The screenplay was written by Bo Goldman, Kevin Wade, Ron Osborn, and Jeff Reno, and is loosely based on the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday, an adaptation of the 1924 Italian play La morte in vacanza by Alberto Casella.

Jodhi Tania May is a British actress. She remains the youngest recipient of the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, for A World Apart (1988). Her other film appearances include The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Sister My Sister (1994), and A Quiet Passion (2016).

<i>Hanging Up</i> 2000 American film

Hanging Up is a 2000 American comedy-drama film about a trio of sisters bonding over their curmudgeonly father with whom none of them were close. It was directed by Diane Keaton, and stars Keaton, Meg Ryan, Lisa Kudrow and Walter Matthau in his final film role. The film is based on Delia Ephron's 1995 novel of the same name.

<i>The Alligator People</i> 1959 film

The Alligator People is a 1959 CinemaScope science-fiction horror film directed by Roy Del Ruth. It stars Beverly Garland, Bruce Bennett, and Lon Chaney Jr. This film was the penultimate feature directed by Del Ruth, and quite different from those of his days at Warner Bros.

<i>The Mummys Curse</i> 1944 film by Leslie Goodwins

The Mummy's Curse is a 1944 American Universal Pictures horror film, directed by Leslie Goodwins. It is the third and final sequel to that company's The Mummy's Hand of 1940. The film is the sequel to The Mummy's Ghost (1944) and the fifth entry in Universal Pictures' original Mummy franchise. It marks Lon Chaney, Jr.'s final appearance as Kharis, the Egyptian mummy. The action of this film, which continues the story of Kharis and his beloved Princess Ananka, is supposed to take place in the same swampy location that was the setting of The Mummy's Ghost. While the earlier film was explicitly set in rural Massachusetts, this film strongly implies that the swamp is in Louisiana, with references to Cajuns and bayous.

<i>Circus of Horrors</i> 1960 film by Sidney Hayers

Circus of Horrors is a 1960 British horror film directed by Sidney Hayers, and starring Anton Diffring, Yvonne Monlaur, Erika Remberg, Kenneth Griffith, Jane Hylton, Conrad Phillips, Yvonne Romain, and Donald Pleasence. Set in 1947, it follows a deranged plastic surgeon who changes his identity after botching an operation, and later comes to gain control of a circus that he uses as a front for his surgical exploits. The original screenplay was written by American screenwriter George Baxt.

<i>Phone Call from a Stranger</i> 1952 film by Jean Negulesco

Phone Call from a Stranger is a 1952 American film noir drama film directed by Jean Negulesco from a screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, based on the 1950 novelette of the same name by I. A. R. Wylie. The film centers on the survivor of an aircraft crash who contacts the relatives of three of the victims he came to know on board the flight. The story employs flashbacks to relive the three characters' pasts.

<i>Sea Change</i> (Parker novel) 2006 crime novel by Robert B. Parker

Sea Change is a 2006 crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the fifth in his Jesse Stone series.

<i>The Lawless Breed</i> 1953 film by Raoul Walsh

The Lawless Breed is a 1953 American Technicolor Western biographical film produced and distributed by Universal-International, directed by Raoul Walsh, and starring Rock Hudson and Julie Adams. The film is a romanticized story based on the life of outlaw John Wesley Hardin.

Baillie Walsh is a film director and screenwriter.

<i>That Girl in Yellow Boots</i> 2010 Indian film

That Girl in Yellow Boots is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language thriller film by director Anurag Kashyap, starring Kalki Koechlin and Naseeruddin Shah. The film was first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010, followed by the Venice Film Festival after it played in several festivals worldwide including the South Asian International Film Festival. The commercial release however took place a year later in September 2011, both in India as well as in the U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth (biblical figure)</span> Protagonist of the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible

Ruth is the person after whom the Book of Ruth is named. She was a Moabite woman who married an Israelite. After the death of all the male members of her family, she stays with her mother-in-law, Naomi, and moves to Judah with her, where Ruth wins the love and protection of a wealthy relative, Boaz, through her kindness.

"Abiquiu" is the eleventh episode of the third season of the American television drama series Breaking Bad, and the 31st overall episode of the series. It was written by John Shiban and Thomas Schnauz and directed by Michelle MacLaren. The title refers to Abiquiú, New Mexico, where Georgia O'Keeffe had a home and studio.

<i>Call of the Canyon</i> 1942 film by Joseph Santley

Call of the Canyon is a 1942 American Western film directed by Joseph Santley and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, the Sons of the Pioneers, and Ruth Terry. Based on a story by Maurice Rapf and Olive Cooper, the film is about a singing cowboy who leads a group of cattlemen against the corrupt agent of a large packing company looking to swindle them by undercutting the buying price for beef. The film features three songs by Autry and the Sons of the Pioneers, including the classic "Take Me Back to My Boots and Saddle".

<i>Ophelia</i> (2018 film) 2018 film by Claire McCarthy

Ophelia is a 2018 historical romantic drama film directed by Claire McCarthy and written by Semi Chellas about the character of the same name from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Based on the novel by Lisa Klein, the film follows the story of Hamlet from Ophelia's perspective. It stars Daisy Ridley in the title role, alongside Naomi Watts, Clive Owen, George MacKay, Tom Felton and Devon Terrell. The dialogue is in modern English.

<i>The Lady Pays Off</i> 1951 film by Douglas Sirk

The Lady Pays Off is a 1951 American romantic comedy film starring Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally and Gigi Perreau, and directed by Douglas Sirk. A teacher finds herself with a large gambling debt that she has to pay off in an unusual way.

<i>Dark River</i> (2017 film) 2017 film by Clio Barnard

Dark River is a 2017 British drama film written and directed by Clio Barnard, and starring Ruth Wilson, Mark Stanley, and Sean Bean. The film is loosely based on Rose Tremain's novel Trespass. Originally Barnard intended the film to be a straightforward adaptation of the novel, which was set in southern France and involved two sets of elderly siblings involved in a property dispute. Encouraged by the financiers to make the story her own, Barnard changed the location of the film to Yorkshire, and instead focused on a woman who returns to the home she fled 15 years earlier in order to claim the tenancy of her father's farm, who then becomes involved in a dispute with her brother. It screened in the Platform section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the United Kingdom on 23 February 2018.

References

  1. ↑ Halligan, Fionnuala (14 April 2008). "Flashbacks of a Fool". Screen International . Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  2. ↑ "Flashbacks of a Fool (2008)". BBFC . Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  3. ↑ French, Philip (20 April 2008). "Flashbacks of a Fool". The Guardian .
  4. ↑ "INXS - Taste It". blackdogfilms.com. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  5. ↑ "John Mathieson". Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers.
  6. ↑ "Flashbacks of a Fool (2008)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved 7 April 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.