‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ is so much more than just another quirky Brit flick
Film Review: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (12A) – seen at The Light Cinema, Wisbech
Starring: Jim Broadbent, Penelope Wilton, Earl Cave, Linda Bassett and Daniel Frogson
Running time: One hour, 48 minutes Director: Hettie Macdonald
What at first appears to be another quirky British film actually has a lot more substance as Jim Broadbent stars in this gentle yet poignant slice of life movie.
We first meet retired suburbanite Harold Fry as he sits down to breakfast with his wife in their drab kitchen. Everything about the scene and about the couple is dull, safe and boring. Even when Harold opens a letter from an old friend telling him she is terminally ill, there is no real drama as he pens a note of condolence.
Harold then goes out to post the letter but a chance conversation with a shop assistant spurs him to do something different for a change and he vows to walk the 400-plus miles from his South Devon home to the hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed where old work colleague Queenie is spending her final days. He phones the home, telling them that while he walks, she must live.
What then follows is true to the trailers. Harold trucks across England to see Queenie, picking up friends, admirers, fellow walkers and even a stray dog on the way. It’s all rather lovely and a little bit Forrest Gump meets Bear Grylls, but the hints of an unhappy marriage and the failures he perceives of himself as a father and a man slowly come to the fore.
Indeed, the final third is quite tear-jerking as the real reason for Harold and his wife’s emotionless existence is played out and we realise his pilgrimage is nothing to do with any past romance with Queenie, just a debt he thinks he owes to those around him.
There’s some tweeness overloads at times but it’s a decent watch nonetheless.
Broadbent puts in his usual first class performance, Wilton withholds her usual charisma as she superbly portrays the downtrodden, despairing wife and Cave – son of rock star Nick – is impressive as the couple’s son.
Rating: 7/10
By Jeremy Ransome
