20140316: Drama Review--How I Live Now

How I Live Now

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. British live action feature length film, 2013, rated R, 101 minutes, drama, indie.
2. IMDB: 6.5/10.0 from 7,555 audience ratings.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 67% on the meter; 55% liked it from 5,357 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.1/5.0 from 5,039 audience ratings.
5. Directed by: Kevin McDonald.
6. Starring: Saoirse Ronan as Daisy, Tom Holland as Isaac, George Mackay as Edmond (Eddie), Harley Bird as Piper, Danny McEvoy as Joe, Anna Chancellor as Aunt Penn, Stella Ganet as Mrs. McEvoy, Des McAleer as Major McEvoy.


2. Setup and Plot
1. An American teenaged girl flies to the UK.  The markers of a police state are everywhere at the airport and along the drive to her destination in the countryside.  Identification: retinal scans, thumbprint, passport with barcode.  Large, determined looking soldiers in camouflage (ridiculous in the urban segments) with automatic weapons.  Live video feeds of a bomb's consequences in Paris.  On the way to the countryside, they see large military helicopters, and military transport vehicles on the road.


2. The girl is Daisy, not Elisabeth.  Daisy does not like her father but does like her expensive headphones.  She's a faux platinum blonde with jet black roots and great bushy jet black eyebrows.  Her black leather jacket with silver decorations, badly tattered hose, and miniskirt combine to give the effect of a cheap hooker.  She has enough attitude to depress a small city.  Daisy is the protagonist, and at five minutes in, I already regret choosing to watch this film.  Isaac, her driver from the airport is a fourteen year old boy who has been driving since he was six.


3. At the country estate, she's greeted by dogs larger than she is who knock her down.  Nice start.  Edmond helps her up, then leaves to do something else.  She meets Piper, who is about ten or less.  She meets Joe, an early teen, the next door neighbor who visits often (since his dad is a wanker) and has an extra dose of creepy.  Piper's unicorn is a small goat with a fake horn attached.  Daisy seems to be allergic to the dogs and is surprised that the dishes are not washed.  The room they've made up for Daisy seems to be a good one.  Daisy is more than a bit abrupt with Piper.


4. The next morning, Daisy thinks about breakfast with Piper, Joe, and Isaac.  Of course, she does not eat wheat or dairy, so a lot of breakfast is out.  Aunt Penn is out for a meeting in London.  Piper makes the first mention of World War III.  Eddie joins them. Daisy mentions that her dad is busy with work and the new baby and all.


5. There we have it, a particle of truth.  Daisy's got abandonment issues, which flower as the film progresses.


6. Eddie stares at Daisy a lot.  She challenges him on it.  She turns down an offer to go fishing.  She meets Aunt Penn. She gets to know the other kids.  One day she decides to go to watch the others swim, and gets dragged into the water by Eddie.  Life seems OK for once.


7. That lasts really quickly.  Jets go overhead.  There is a large explosion in the distance.  They get dusted with ash.  The telly says London has received what looks like a nuclear strike.  The electricity goes out.


8. The adapting starts: they break out gas lanterns, candles, matches, and try to get news from battery powered radios.  The power might be out for months due to massive infrastructure damage.  Daisy takes medications regularly, which of course, will run out.  The telephone is out, and Aunt Penn is in Switzerland, last they knew.  Martial law is declared, and they are lucky to find that out before interacting with the military.


9. A man from the American Embassy in Scotland arrives and gives her a ticket to NYC.  She packs to go to the village for a pickup the next morning.  Since they are not American citizens, the embassy representative cannot offer Daisy's cousin any help.  He does tell Eddie that the area will likely be evacuated in the next few days, so just hang tight.  Daisy thinks about it, or emotes about it, then burns her ticket.


10. Then they get forcibly evacuated and separated.  Daisy and Piper are dumped into a foster home with Major and Mrs. McEvoy.  They get to participate in work camps for the military.  Even that is not steady state; enemy troops sometimes break the workflow.


11. Will Daisy and Piper stay wards of the State?  Will they meet Eddie, Joe, or Isaac again?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Teens versus the world in WW III in the UK.
2. Two stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 6/10 No particular problems, but nothing all that interesting either.


2. Sound: 6/10 Irritating music at times.  The actors were miked OK.


3. Acting: 2/10 The protagonist is quite important in this piece.  Unfortunately, Saoirse Ronan is just abrasive without any particular point.  Ronan may have been born in New York, but Wikipedia describes her as Irish.  Why not have an American actress play an American, rather than an Irish actress?  George Mackay was more wooden than anything else.  I liked Anna Chancellor's performance a bit.


4. Screenplay: 1/10 The actors make the script look bad, but it had structural problems of its own.  Is there any character that I identify with?  Empathise with?  Like?  No, no, no.  That alone is next to fatal.  The kowtowing to an unstated set of weak values and the pimping to a quite narrow demographic further degrade the product.  Unless one is a self-loathing, adult-hating, teen female, the chances of liking this hot mess are small.