“Wonderful acting all around.  Very poignant, I kept the tissues handy with good reason.  I loved the flashbacks to Blake’s childhood and how his father seemed invincible and infallible to him, only to realize in later years that he was not.  Very realistic father-son relationship.”

“Touching, realistic view of parent/child relationship.  Ambivalent view from child, teenager and adult.”

“Moving portrait of two men coming to grips with each other.  A rebellion and then an acceptance.”

“Wow!  A really nice little movie.  Pitch perfect performances except Colin who has 2 expressions, but it was great to see Juliet Stevenson and Jim Broadbent.”

“’Boys don’t cry’ is the lesson that this father tried to imbue to his son.  Emotions of love are not masculine in some cultures.  The silence of emotion is not equivalent to a lack of emotion.”

“It showed the complexity of a parent/child relationship.”

“Drag!  Beautiful scenery, it’s a bad sign when you notice it.”

“You’re wondering if there is a male/female difference.  Perhaps it’s cultural, non expressive.  English vs. very expressive Jewish.  Fine acting.”

“Poignant film.  Relationships between people are complex.”

“If a father-son movie doesn’t emotionally involve me, it didn’t do its job.”

“A very well done film.  I liked the use of mirrors and reflections.  The sound was sometimes hard to hear.  A very good handling of a difficult topic.”

“Brilliant.  Five thousand times better than last week’s film.”

“I had no feeling for the father.  It did not speak to me.”

“A little self-indulgent and obvious for my tastes.  Breaking the self or the family up into mirror images doesn’t make the subject any more poignant.  In the process of trying to be ‘raw’ and real, it was clichéd and maudlin.” (Female)

“My dear, sweet, loving, sharing husband grew up in a household where he never heard ‘I love you.’  The phrase that sticks with him is ‘could do better.’  His dad told him ‘I love you’ for the first time on his deathbed.  Jim Broadbent and Juliet Stevenson are masters of their craft.  The ‘Britishness’ kept was as much emotionally distant as they were.  The movie walked a thin line between very good and excellent.  But, I never cared about any character…and there were so many mirror images I almost started counting them!”

“I thought 90 minutes was short, but then I found it to be too long.”

“The best line in the movie that went underdeveloped was by Colin’s wife when she said: ‘I know you’re going thru a hard time, but that’s no excuse for being a bastard.’” (Female)

“Yet another film about an emotionally constipated male!  The lead character Blake is so buttoned up that it’s difficult to get involved in his story.  On the other hand, a father/son estrangement is universal and a poet’s take on his own life is likely to be quite cerebral.  I’ve never before seen so many mirrors used in a film!  A bit of art director’s overkill.  I loved Jim Broadbent and Juliet Stevenson.”

“I thought that the film was moving and depicted real characters with flaws. I didn’t like all the mirror shots and found them to be very distracting.  The scenes of the English countryside were beautiful!”

“Slow moving film.  The father is more caring and supportive toward others than his family.  It’s harder for men, the death of a father.  Colin Firth looks down on fathers, values and morals.  Yet he goes to his first love, she felt she had to share him.”

“Stevenson and Broadbent were excellent.  Colin Firth was his usual excellent performance and easy on the eyes!  Matthew Beard has a bright future.  Well done film by the ensemble.”

“Excellent movie, superb cast.  It was poignant and humorous at times, and in the end a subject we all can relate to.  The best movie to date.”

“Eh!  Not touched at all, this movie wanted to be!  The best part was the casting.” (Female)

“Superb film.  I totally understood this film and it me.  Powerful and perfect in every way, story, screenplay, direction, acting, editing, the works.  The camping and learning to drive scenes were brilliant!  Thank-you!”

“Beautiful film!  End of life brings new insight to relationships.”

“We could use a happy Saturday morning flick!”

“One of the best films of the year!”