The More You Ignore Me - film reviews: The Guardian, The Telegraph, The List

The More You Ignore Me review – Morrissey and love in fun version of Jo Brand novel.

By Peter Bradshaw.

4/5*s

https://www.theguardian.com/film/20...e-me-review-sheridan-smith-morrissey-jo-brand



The More You Ignore Me review: a miscast Sheridan Smith derails Jo Brand's bittersweet mental health comedy.

By Robbie Collin.

Click spoiler for full review minus the pay wall nonsense:
Writing mental illness is a minefield, acting it another. The More You Ignore Me manages to pick its way through only the first of these unscathed. This adaptation of Jo Brand’s 1980s-set novel, directed by feature first-timer Keith English, spins an appealing, bittersweetly funny tale of a Morrissey-mad teenage girl whose life is regularly derailed by her mother’s worsening mental state.

But oddly, it does so in spite of the mother character herself, who is called Gina, is played by Sheridan Smith, and regrettably doesn’t ring true for a moment.

The fault doesn’t lie with Smith’s performance so much as her very presence – or rather, the decision to cast a born lead actress in a quirky character role, then try to bridge the gap with bottom padding, greasepaint and a matted crazy-woman wig.

Gina is suffering from schizophrenia brought on by postpartum psychosis, a condition which, here anyway, manifests in big, overtly loopy gestures such as ranting at the weatherman, chasing visitors from the family’s tumbledown homestead, and patrolling the surrounding Hertfordshire countryside on a bright red space hopper.

This would be tough stuff for any actor to sell, even though Brand’s self-adapted script frames it with a humour and candour that no doubt stems from its writer’s years of experience as a psychiatric nurse. But the obvious phoniness of Smith’s costume and make-up gives Gina a pantomime broadness that feels awkwardly at odds with the sensitivity and downbeat wit of the other leads. It’s like watching a Viz cartoon run rampant on a Shane Meadows set.
Yet even so, thing hang together, thanks in no small part to those other cast members – and particularly 20-year-old Ella Hunt as Gina’s daughter Alice, from whose long-suffering perspective the film plays out. Though Hunt has popped up recently in Intruders, Robot Overlords and the Cold Feet revival, her performance here has the air of a real you-saw-her-here-first moment.

She stands out even alongside such hardy British comic troupers as Mark Addy, who plays Alice’s effectively single father, and Sally Phillips as Gina’s doctor – and further down the card, Ricky Tomlinson, Sheila Hancock and Brand herself, who makes an extended cameo as the village newsagent.

Hunt and Addy both capture the self-abnegating grind of managing a close family member’s declining mental health, and when Alice’s own hopes take a back seat to her mother’s demands, not least during two abortive trips to Smiths gigs, you feel exasperation kicking in your gut.

The More You Ignore Me might feel too mannered, perhaps even too wacky in spite of itself to fully function as a coming-of-age story. But as a close-up portrait of family carers, at least, it feels skeweringly accurate.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0...sheridan-smith-derails-jo-brands-bittersweet/


Sheridan Smith is typically impressive in a slightly wobbly comedy drama about mental instability.

By Emma Simmonds.

3/5*s

https://film.list.co.uk/article/101764-the-more-you-ignore-me/


The film is now on general release as of yesterday.

Regards,
FWD.


Related item:

 
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I typed on here when this was announced that Sheridan smith was britains most over-rated actress,saying that I will definitely watch it at some point.
 
I'll treat this like England Is Mine, and definitely pay full price to go watch it in the theater, and definitely not on my sofa for free with low expectations and a light snack.
 
Does this have any original Smith's/Mozz music in it? If not, no point making it and no point watching for that matter.
 
Links to the soundtrack (seems daft not to have the song in the film):



Link resolves to:
https://globe.lnk.to/TMYIMFP
(Spotify, Deezer, Google et al).

20180720_141431.jpg


Regards,
FWD.
 
Sheridan Smith's new film The More You Ignore Me struggles at box office as it takes in just £8,420... after being given limited theatrical release

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...ore-struggles-box-office-earns-just-8420.html
Bit of a spiteful headline. When you read on, the piece says:

'A representative for the film told MailOnline: 'The More You Ignore Me’s screen average of £602 actually outperformed other new openers last weekend, including Uncle Drew, Mary Shelley, Swimming with Men and Whitney.

'The initial release of The More You Ignore Me last weekend was in a limited number of select cinemas in key cities as counter programming to the World Cup with a view to broadening it out across the country over the Summer.

'This was scheduled prior to England’s successful performance in the World Cup which, combined with the hot weather, dented the box office not only for this film but for others as well.'
 
I dunno, the film is set in the 80s, could be equally daft to have the song in the film o_O
I get you.
End credits would have done :)
Listening to the preview of a song called 'Morrissey letter' didn't help enthuse me.



Speaking of immersion, Miss Smith singing on one track isn't the best idea either (films scenes included in the song if anyone's intending to see it):


FWD.
 
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Yours to own on DVD from the 29th of this month:



(tinyurl resolves to Amazon UK).
Regards,
FWD.
 
Bit of a spiteful headline. When you read on, the piece says:

'A representative for the film told MailOnline: 'The More You Ignore Me’s screen average of £602 actually outperformed other new openers last weekend, including Uncle Drew, Mary Shelley, Swimming with Men and Whitney.

'The initial release of The More You Ignore Me last weekend was in a limited number of select cinemas in key cities as counter programming to the World Cup with a view to broadening it out across the country over the Summer.

'This was scheduled prior to England’s successful performance in the World Cup which, combined with the hot weather, dented the box office not only for this film but for others as well.'
you think that's bad a few years ago a danny dyer film made £7.50 on its opening weekend which meant that one person went to see this film over a four day period of thurs through to Monday,even danny couldn't be arsed going to see it.
 

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