The loss of someone can be devestating and it has had its effect on William Keane (Damian Lewis). He has lost his 7 year old daughter at a bus station a while ago and regularly returns to the place with a news clipping to ask people if they have seen her. He replays the situation constantly hoping to find a new clue to find out where his daughter might be.
This movie, directed by Lodge Kerrigan, shows Keane mostly in closeups. You can hear him mumbling, you can see the tough life he is living (staying in cheap hotels) and because of the way it’s shot you actually feel close to the character. You initially care for this father looking desperately for his daughter, you can imagine someone acting that way. He drinks, lives in cheap hotels and only seems to have one purpose in life. As the movie progresses you start to feel a bit uncomfortable about it all, especially when he starts interacting with a mother who also lives in the sam hotel and is taking care of her daughter. By the end of the film I really was asking myself how I should feel about William Keane. Should I care for him?
The story and characters are fascinating as it has quite a lot of depth. From start to finish it had me hooked.
Score: 7
Hi, Nostra and company;
I’m surprised that this film managed to slip under my radar. It looks intriguing as hell. Damien Lewis is under utilized and does slow smoldering distraught better than most around today. I’ll have to look for it on DVD.
It was on my “to watch” list for years and when I came across the DVD at a store immediately picked it up to see. I think you’ll probably like it.
I don’t think I’ve even heard of this one but it sounds quite gripping. Will try to check it out!
Can’t remember where I first heard of it, but made sure to note it down when I did. Hope you’ll be able to check it out.
Sounds pretty interesting, especially how it complicates your feelings to him by the end!
Yeah, I really liked that it managed to do so.
I felt the film relied too heavily on Keane as a character without really earning my sympathy which made it tough going for me.
I can understand that as his character is a difficult one to care for. I felt a connection because he lost his daughter and this was the reason it dragged me into it.
I’ve never seen Damian Lewis in anything. I might give this one a shot.
I can’t remember seeing him in anything else either, but I liked him here.
Great write-up. Love Keane, really great, underseen film. I personally thought this was a step up from Kerrigan’s first flick, Clean, Shaven, mostly because of Lewis’ all-in performance.
(I saw your comments with Ruth – Lewis made it big in the US by starring in Band of Brothers, now he’s on Showtime’s Homeland. Really good show.)
If you have the Keane DVD, there’s a great special feature on it in which Steven Soderbergh shows his own re-edited version of the film. The footage is all exactly the same, it’s just in a different order. Really cool to compare the two.
Thanks Alex. It really is an underseen one as I also haven’t read much about it on other blogs either. I only saw part of Band of Brothers years ago, so I can’t remember much of it and haven’t seen Homeland.
Interesting, didn’t check out the DVD extras, but will see if I get a chance to watch that. Does it make it a different kind of film?
Really liked this movie! I found it really moving. It was one I saw some years back and have always been surprised that most people I run across haven’t heard of it. It was my first introduction to Damien Lewis. He’s great (he is currently on the HBO show “Homeland” with Claire Danes and is amazing on it) and, like someone mention ed, underutilized.
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I’m glad to have checked it out as it was one that really is worth seeing. Nice to hear you also was moved by it. As a father I could imagine what he must have felt like.