On a Clear Day
- In theaters April 14th 2006
- Rated PG-13 for some language
- Runtime: 98 min
- Matt's rating - 3.75 out of 5
- Cindy's rating - 3.5 out of 5
COMPLETE REVIEW BELOW
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Take an almost unknown cast, add little or no marketing and
absolutely no big hoopla and late night talk show circuits and
you usually have a movie worth seeing. Which is good
because sometimes you need a flick that gets you to think
and is not there simply as some sort of escape. On a Clear
Day is a triumph of the human will and spirit, it succeeds
with likeable characters and humorous life moments.
Frank Redmond has been laid off from his ship building job of
30 plus years and finds he is having a hard time adjusting to
this new season of life. He spends most of his days in the
athletic pool at the club and you get the idea that he has
been an avid swimmer for most of his 55 years. When he
decides to swim the English Channel his pals think him insane
at first but soon get on board in helping him accomplish the
task at hand.
What I appreciate about this movie and movies of this slant
is the characters. I delight in these guys. They are real. They
have real issues and real families and real failures and real
dreams. They don't have all the answers and you know they
don't expect to find them in 90 minutes. But what they
discover is something they didn't even know they where
searching for, and that is a cool twist any day. Watching
them causes me to look at my own life and ask the tough
questions. To set some far fetched goals. To reach for the
sky. To see the human spirit alive in myself and those
around me.
Frank's four buddies are the key to his success. Every guy
needs a group of pals that understand him and aren't afraid
to hold him accountable and kick his butt in gear when
needed. This batch of blokes includes Danny (Billy Boyd),
Norman (Ron Cook), Eddie (Sean McGinley) and Chan
(Benedict Wong). Each of them are totally different when
looked at individually but together bring balance to each
other.
There is a saying, the race is not to the swiftest but he who
endures until the end. That is the story of all of these guys,
in
and out of the water. This movie shows that many times we
end up achieving something that is far greater than what we
imagined when we set out and what looks like failure is oft
times our greatest win.
Shot on location in Glasgow, Isle of Man and Dover, it is like
many British films in the fact that you have to closely pay
attention to the dialogue or you will miss something. On a
Clear Day is rated PG-13 for some language. The language is
not mean spirited or gratuitous at all. It is salty at times but
in the context of most middle age guys hanging out and
trying to get through life. It starts out slow and you may
need to wait 15 minutes or so before it finds its groove, but
once it does be ready for an enjoyable movie and a chance to
ponder life. With a look at On a Clear Day, I'm Matt Mungle
3.75 out of 5 strokes.
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Matt Mungle
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