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Albatross (2011)

Director: Niall MacCormick

Time Out rating

Average user rating

2 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Likeable performances are the salvation of this middling coming-of-age story, which gets itself in a tangle by mixing elements familiar from both ‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘An Education’. Jessica Brown-Findlay is this year’s Emily Lloyd or Carey Mulligan as the impossibly sassy 17 year old who turns heads at a twee seaside B&B where author Sebastian Koch trades on his one-hit novel. Spouse Julia Ormond is impatient for a successful follow-up and daughter Felicity Jones keeps her head down in the crossfire. Jones excels in the less showy role of the gifted student who’s headed for choppy emotional waters just as she’s bidding for Oxbridge, yet Tamzin Rafn’s script never decides who’s the centre of attention – her or the sharp-yet-flaky Brown-Findlay making unwise mileage out of a purported family connection to Conan Doyle. The two young actresses keep us engaged, though the movie as a whole suffers from a certain predictability, while the clunky scene explaining the metaphorical import of the title is a real groaner.

Author: Trevor Johnston

Time Out London Issue 2147: 13 – 19 October 2011

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User reviews of this film

Miles Cary said...

Posted on Feb 17 2012 17:51 Loved the writing, and the choice of actors was sublime. Overall a great package producing an excellent film which entertained from start to finish

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Ian said...

Posted on Oct 16 2011 19:13 As a film this is all a bit dull and very very slow. The film lacks direction, it meanders all over the place and never really gets to the heart of the relationships in the film.
There is the cliched older man, the wife that doesn't understand him ,and the younger girl only too aware of the power she holds over the older man who happens to be her new best friends dad.
Brown-Findley and Jones are good but the rest of the cast and the plot really don't pass muster.
Its too long, too slow and too dull. Sadly the young actresses can't carry the rest of the film off on their own.

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