London Film Festival review #4
Atom Egoyan’s latest
stars David Thewlis as a British ex-pat food inspector living in Canada and
married to a Brazilian woman. His character is already deceased at the
beginning of the movie. The flashback narrative sees him trying to find out why
his music teacher daughter has allowed herself to serve an unnecessary prison
sentence.
Egoyan takes a lot of
risks with his complex story and structure here, but for the most part it pays
off, and the unexpected twists and turns of the plot make for an enjoyable
journey. A great tragi-comic performance by Thewlis is one of the main
reasons to watch this film, but there are incidental pleasures throughout,
especially in the often surreal vignettes of Thewlis going about his job
inspecting a variety of weird but seldom wonderful restaurants. In
support, Luke Wilson does well as a hip priest, as does newcomer Laysla De Oliveira as
the daughter. The film looks and sounds great too.
By turns funny, moving
and strange, like his earlier offerings, The Adjuster and Exotica, Guest
of Honour is a
one-of-a-kind movie only Egoyan could have made, and also one of his very
best.
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