Review: Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool

I had not heard anything about this film until the buzz it was getting from Telluride Film Festival.
Also as a Merseysider, I was intrigued to see a film that would heavily feature the city of Liverpool.

Also, the cast featured many safe pairs of hands that you can always get strong performances out of.

I liked the structure it was going for at the start, and even the impressively slick editing did make it hard to adjust at first as to what was a flashback and what was present. The romance, comedy and drama was developing nicely throughout, and it ended with a fairly strong and well deserved tear-jerker.

It was great seeing late 70's/early 80's Liverpool being portrayed on screen. From the dress-sense to the outrageously low prices for a pint, it was a very well executed portrayal of the city at that time.

Annette Bening was top dollar in the leading role. It has been a bit of a resurgence in the last few years for Bening. Her character showed a great mix of Hollywood showbiz, but also having a mysterious persona. She made me smile, laugh, sad and feel huge sympathy for her. There were many aspects to her character to get invested with.

This is the best I've seen of Jamie Bell in years. While it's partly to do with being given a much more prominent role then he has had in recent years, his chemistry with Benning was also particularly strong throughout.

While those two could have easily carried the film by themselves, there were a couple of notable supports. Julie Walters is always good value and has many crowd-pleasing and laugh-out-loud moments. It just further labels her as a national treasure. Stephen Graham is also worth watching, just for the hair-piece alone.

I don't often mention this particular department when reviewing, but I was pretty impressed with the editing. It was a very inventive way of transitioning from its flashbacks to its present. The last film I can think of that did a similar style was last years 'Hunt For The Wilderpeople'.

It might not have quite matched my excitement for it. But I still felt pretty entertained by it. Bening and Bell's chemistry was great to watch and never made this film boring. It looks great and the pacing was spot on. 
Sadly, I don't think the story was strong or memorable enough to be seen as one of the year's best or an awards contender. If it did, then I would say Bening's performance or maybe the editing would be its best chance.

Rating: 7/10