Toast

12 March 2013

Toast 2010

• Director: Nigel Slater
• Based on Book: by Nigel Slater, memoir
• Cast: Helena Bonham-Carter, Oscar Kennedy, Victoria Hamilton, Freddie Highmore
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor/actress in:
• Helena Bonham-Carter: no such reaction, I know all her films!
• Victoria Hamilton:  Baby Father
• Freddie Highmore: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Finding Neverland
• Why bought: Helena Bonham-Carter, 60’s music, same screenwriter as Billy Elliot
• Seen: August 31, 2012 

 What a disappointment.  There are parallels to Billy Elliot – young boy wanting to do “girl” things, in this case cooking, a little girl standing around watching them – but the boy has about 5 % of the depth and charm of Jamie Bell.  Everyone in the movie is nasty. One has some pity for the boy but he is really cruel to Joan Potter, played by Bonham-Carter, and once she shows up I have little sympathy and no liking for young Slater. Helena Bonham-Carter does, as always, a brilliant portrayal. Unlike the other characters, she reveals a vulnerability and strength.  Her nastiness is in reaction to Nigel’s and society’s contempt and cruelty. Nigel’s deep-seated class hatred (he is so bourgeois and he so hates the working class) makes the film is quite offensive. 

The film: 0 *.  Helena Bonham-Carter: 5 * of 5, as always.