Xtreme Vogue London Desk: Judith Benjamin
My Policeman Movie Review Rating:
Star Cast: Harry Styles, David Dawson, Emma Corrin, Linus Roache, Rupert Everett, Gina McKee & ensemble.
Director: Michael Grandage.
What’s Good: Everyone is in a closet of their own sufferings and self beyond their s*xualities. The film captures that in the most intriguing manner.
What’s Bad: It fails to open that closet and let the inner catharsis take the centre stage. It is more involved in showing jealousy than longing which is far more poetic.
Loo Break: If you decide to watch it, you might choose to pause and take one.
Watch or Not?: You can give it a chance, because it isn’t a bad film, it’s just that it is a chance wasted.
Language: English.
Available On: Amazon Prime Video.
Runtime: 113 Minutes.
User Rating:
Patrick (David & Rupert) returns to the life of Tom (Harry & Linus) and Marion (Emma & Gina) after 40 years and Marion is forced to look back in history when her husband fell in love with a man and how their love destined to face doom.
Script Analysis
It is London of 1957 where even owning one’s s*xuality apart from being straight was a crime. Amid the atrocities towards the homos*xuals rose a couple who got involved in a triangle that was based on jealousy and agony. The idea of My Policeman is noble and very moving on paper and the agony does translate on screen too, but the poetry required in making it all even more engaging goes missing. Let’s dissect.
Based on Bathen Roberts book, adapted for the screen by Ron Nyswaner My Policeman definitely has a heart and for the most part, it keeps beating very much. There is a man hiding his s*xual identity, another still unaware of what his inclination exactly is and when they come together, there are sparks that fly. The best part about the movie is how it treats Patrick and his dilemma that neither connects him to the world around him nor even separates him entirely but keeps hanging.
The essence of the time is captured quite well where men loving each other are arrested and treated as criminals. The world looks down upon them like they are monsters. But in the attempt to talk about a love dynamic that is natural but taboo, the film forgets to treat its characters as humans and give them an in-depth catharsis at any point. Like yes, they are in love, now one has a wife and the dynamics are threatened. But the mess is never shown in a way that ends up affecting the viewer. It is all very much on the surface and fasts to make shifts from one point to another.
All of this steals the poetry from a movie that has all the potential to have it. Because there is enough pain and tragedy to make it look beautiful and aching. But the makers rather choose to not focus on it and just highlight the jealousy that exists between the three. You feel the void of a poetic undertone when in a court hearing the attorney calls Tom ‘My Policeman’ while reading out Patrick’s diary and it kind of hits you on the right chord. If you want an example, watch Pablo Larraín’s work (Spencer) where he makes his characters almost dance through their stories. This one needed that treatment.
Star Performance
Harry Styles as Tom opposed to the negative buzz is not bad. While he is just above average, it isn’t like you cannot bear his act. There is a long way to go but this is certainly a small step in a good direction. He manages to be good in the parts where he is supposed to be a muse.
The winner in My Policeman is definitely David Dawson who amazingly brings alive the aforementioned dilemma in the most emotional way. His is the only character that gets to having a life beyond the leading three actors and layers more than being a 3 point role.
He is followed by Gina McKee, who plays the old Marion and is the one who joints all the dots in this story. The young version played by Emma Corrin doesn’t get much to do apart from what we have already seen her do.
Direction, Music
Michael Grandage’s direction opens My Policeman with a lot of aspirations and frames that have many things but still have a void very much present. But that fades in the first 20 minutes and things just become monotonous and too fast.
The music does help to immerse the viewer but it stops doing so when the script chooses to run and not take a breath.
The Last Word
Harry Styles starrer has the potential to be an immersive movie but it chooses to stay on the surface. It’s an opportunity not used well.
My Policeman Trailer
My Policeman releases on 21 October, 2022.
