Stopped On Track

Though not as subtle rigorous or powerful as Dresen’s earlier ‘Cloud 9’, this remains a highly intelligent and rewarding film, brave in its unblinking focus on death. It begins with a 40 year old and his wife being told by a doctor that the former’s brain tumour means he’ll die within months. The rest of the film simply charts how the couple, their two children, their parents, friends and others deal with Frank’s physical and mental decline – a journey he records on his phone. Though the dialogue was improvised, the drama feels admirably tight. More importantly, the overall honesty about the pain, conflict, embarrassment, anger and frustration caused by the illness raises the film way above sentimental hogwash like ‘Terms of Endearment’. Crucially, here, it’s only when life has finally departed that Frank is seen to find peace.