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Someone Else (2006)

Director: Col Spector

Time Out rating

Average user rating

8 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Barely more than an hour long, Col Spector’s debut feature is a no-frills, London-set British film that’s defiantly everyday in its interests, but too slight to make enough of an impression, despite some perceptive scripting and the odd good performance. David (Stephen Mangan) is a portrait photographer (think a slimmer, younger Tim Spall in ‘Secrets and Lies’ rather than David LaChapelle) who’s uneasy in his three-year relationship with Lisa (Susan Lynch), who is ready for real commitment. No wonder David’s uneasy – he’s smitten with Nina (Lara Belmont), a younger woman who, disastrously for him, is no longer interested once he plucks up the courage to give old Lisa the heave-ho, leaving him free, single and… depressed. Oh, the grass is always greener on the other side of Parliament Hill.

It’s a perennial theme for drama good and bad, and Spector pushes all the right buttons by comparing David’s situation with his happily married friend, Michael (Sean Dingwall), and carefree single pal, Matt (Chris Coghill). What we get is a portrait of a man, none too unusual, who doesn’t know what makes him happy. Problematically, humans talk such banal guff when ending relationships – ‘I don’t want to hurt you’, ‘It’s me, not you’ – that it’s a challenge for any director to make such conversations look real, and while Spector nails the language, it’s impossible to take Mangan seriously at these moments: it looks like he might burst out laughing. Thankfully, Spector, who’s a fluid, straightforward director, resists the crutch of music until the final scene when he goes and blows it all by playing something stupid like… a Gary Barlow song.

Author: Dave Calhoun

Time Out London Issue 1933: September 5-11 2007

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User reviews of this film

N.Bronowski said...

Posted on Aug 28 2011 18:01 Just realised after watching this movie again...the acoustic song at the end of the film is a cover of 'Back for Good' NOT 'i want you back' !!

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David Shaw said...

Posted on Mar 28 2010 03:24 I thought the guy who played Freddie Mercury briefly was quite a good impersonator, whats his name ?

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Dave said...

Posted on Jan 28 2010 11:18 Dull, dul dull. This doesn't know what it wants to be - a woody allen drama or a comedy. The main character is totally uninteresting and ambles about silently maing dull comments and never smiling. The women are unattractive. I was looking forward to this but it has nothing to engage the brain or tickle the fancy. It doesn't even achieve a sense of brooding disquiet which you can tell it really wants to. A shame.

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N.Bronowski said...

Posted on Apr 23 2009 10:02 Great movie!..very understated..and very British. Spectors decision to use a version of 'I want you back' sung by Russ Wilson (not Barlow)...actually makes the end of the movie...heartfelt and deeply personal. Which is what the characters struggle with throughout.

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N.Bronowski said...

Posted on Apr 23 2009 09:59 Great movie!..very understated..and very British. Pectors decision to use a version of 'I want you back' sung by Russ Wilson (not Barlow)...actually makes the end of the movie...heartfelt and deeply personal. Which is what the characrters struggle with throughout.

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Cheryl said...

Posted on Oct 11 2007 15:07 As an American in London it was great 2 see how these guys think!

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Lizzie said...

Posted on Sep 19 2007 06:00 loved it - it's a must see

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Sarah said...

Posted on Sep 07 2007 19:37 Brilliant!

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