My Policeman
Year: 2022
Director: Michael Grandage
Starring: Emma Corrin, David Dawson & Harry Styles
Runtime: 113 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 22/11/22
Director: Michael Grandage
Starring: Emma Corrin, David Dawson & Harry Styles
Runtime: 113 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 22/11/22
I find it crazy to think that within my parents’ lifetime homosexuality was seen as a criminal offence. They were very young when that law was changed, but it’s been less than sixty years since the law in the United Kingdom was changed to consider homosexual activity as something that wouldn’t land you in prison. I hear stories of those times from friends I have made through various LGBTQ connections, and it puts real fear in me every single time, that it wasn’t all that long ago when society truly demonised something as normal as holding someone’s hand or sharing a kiss.
I went into Amazon’s newest romantic drama completely unaware of what the subject matter was actually about. But by the time the credits rolled on My Policeman I was in two minds. One of great sorrow for the lives of people who were affected by these archaic laws, and one of general impartiality at the film I had just seen. So, is My Policeman a thought provoking and emotional drama, or is it woefully dull?
When Marion (Gina McKee) agrees to care for her old friend Patrick Hazelwood (Rupert Everett) following a stroke, her husband Tom (Linus Roache) firmly protests against having a man that caused them both such pain and heartbreak in their home.
As Marion reads Patrick’s diary, she is transported back to 1957 where she as a young woman (Emma Corrin) meets and falls in love with Tom (Harry Styles), a strapping young policeman with whom she shares an undeniable connection. Together they befriend Patrick (David Dawson), a museum curator who teaches Marion about the wonders of art and literature.
But when Marion discovers that Tom and Patrick are having a homosexual affair with each other, she goes to extreme lengths to save her marriage.
I went into Amazon’s newest romantic drama completely unaware of what the subject matter was actually about. But by the time the credits rolled on My Policeman I was in two minds. One of great sorrow for the lives of people who were affected by these archaic laws, and one of general impartiality at the film I had just seen. So, is My Policeman a thought provoking and emotional drama, or is it woefully dull?
When Marion (Gina McKee) agrees to care for her old friend Patrick Hazelwood (Rupert Everett) following a stroke, her husband Tom (Linus Roache) firmly protests against having a man that caused them both such pain and heartbreak in their home.
As Marion reads Patrick’s diary, she is transported back to 1957 where she as a young woman (Emma Corrin) meets and falls in love with Tom (Harry Styles), a strapping young policeman with whom she shares an undeniable connection. Together they befriend Patrick (David Dawson), a museum curator who teaches Marion about the wonders of art and literature.
But when Marion discovers that Tom and Patrick are having a homosexual affair with each other, she goes to extreme lengths to save her marriage.
The thing I found the most gripping about My Policeman was the love triangle at the centre of the story, and how its framed within the context of the illegality of the actions at the time. Tom and Patrick desperately love each other but know they cannot be seen publicly together for fear of it destroying both of their lives, particularly Tom who works as law enforcement.
This then having such a profound affect on Marion in the present day, who has devoted her life to a man who never loved her the way she wanted him to, and who always regretted the decisions she made when she was younger.
What surprised me was how invested in this story as I was when I consider that none of the performances were convincing in the slightest. Well, Dawson was mildly believable, but the rest of them felt like they’d been pushed in front of a camera, handed a script they hadn’t read and told to do their best. Styles struggles with his accent, undecided if he wants to maintain his native midlands roundness or adopt a southern, more Sussex approach which would be more appropriate given the setting. Corrin has the emotional range of a teaspoon, looking entirely vacant for most of her time on screen. Then the mature actors, McKee, Roache, and Everett are little more than bit players with but a few lines apiece. They do ok with the material they have but they do come across as somewhat, well, geriatric.
Had anyone brought their A-game to the table I feel that I would have been completely engulfed by My Policeman and it could well have landed in my end-of-year awards simply because of how gripping I found the scenario, and how good the performances were. But instead, I’ll likely forget about it in a few days because despite having a great premise there’s nothing of substance here.
Even the visuals look plain and uninspired. The sleepy seaside town of Peacehaven is the setting for our tale and it reminds me so much of where I grew up. It can best be described as being as visually enticing as a bowl of Shredded Wheat. It’s functional, not enjoyable. There’s not a single moment that pops out as though this story was in need of adapting from its novelisation into a visual medium, and whilst that could be said for many books, at least directors and cinematographers usually attempt to make their films interesting to look at in some capacity. Director Michael Grandage and cinematographer Ben Davis meanwhile seem to be perfectly content in presenting a story with so much life and potential in the most perfunctory way they possibly could, as if the script was going to do all the heavy lifting.
I wanted to love My Policeman because I did find the conflict at the centre of the narrative engaging and affecting. However, it’s let down by performances that felt as though they were just going through the motions, and a less than attractive visual presentation means that My Policeman is unfortunately a story best left closeted. That’s not to say that My Policeman needed to be loud and out-there with its addressing of LGBTQ injustices, because the story does call for a considerably more restrained approach…yet there’s something so incredibly meek about this film and it almost feels ashamed to be what it is at times. Perhaps looking at the character of Tom Burgess, that was exactly the point? Yet I feel that Grandage needed to go much further in illustrating that point if it was indeed the case.
This then having such a profound affect on Marion in the present day, who has devoted her life to a man who never loved her the way she wanted him to, and who always regretted the decisions she made when she was younger.
What surprised me was how invested in this story as I was when I consider that none of the performances were convincing in the slightest. Well, Dawson was mildly believable, but the rest of them felt like they’d been pushed in front of a camera, handed a script they hadn’t read and told to do their best. Styles struggles with his accent, undecided if he wants to maintain his native midlands roundness or adopt a southern, more Sussex approach which would be more appropriate given the setting. Corrin has the emotional range of a teaspoon, looking entirely vacant for most of her time on screen. Then the mature actors, McKee, Roache, and Everett are little more than bit players with but a few lines apiece. They do ok with the material they have but they do come across as somewhat, well, geriatric.
Had anyone brought their A-game to the table I feel that I would have been completely engulfed by My Policeman and it could well have landed in my end-of-year awards simply because of how gripping I found the scenario, and how good the performances were. But instead, I’ll likely forget about it in a few days because despite having a great premise there’s nothing of substance here.
Even the visuals look plain and uninspired. The sleepy seaside town of Peacehaven is the setting for our tale and it reminds me so much of where I grew up. It can best be described as being as visually enticing as a bowl of Shredded Wheat. It’s functional, not enjoyable. There’s not a single moment that pops out as though this story was in need of adapting from its novelisation into a visual medium, and whilst that could be said for many books, at least directors and cinematographers usually attempt to make their films interesting to look at in some capacity. Director Michael Grandage and cinematographer Ben Davis meanwhile seem to be perfectly content in presenting a story with so much life and potential in the most perfunctory way they possibly could, as if the script was going to do all the heavy lifting.
I wanted to love My Policeman because I did find the conflict at the centre of the narrative engaging and affecting. However, it’s let down by performances that felt as though they were just going through the motions, and a less than attractive visual presentation means that My Policeman is unfortunately a story best left closeted. That’s not to say that My Policeman needed to be loud and out-there with its addressing of LGBTQ injustices, because the story does call for a considerably more restrained approach…yet there’s something so incredibly meek about this film and it almost feels ashamed to be what it is at times. Perhaps looking at the character of Tom Burgess, that was exactly the point? Yet I feel that Grandage needed to go much further in illustrating that point if it was indeed the case.