The key to maintaining an audience’s interest in your story, there must be an escalation of events. Are things getting progressively better or progressively worse? In A Life in August, it all feels so one-note with no variation from scene-to-scene. This progression must be personal to the characters in the form of emotional or psychological escalations. The first hour feels very long for this story that is all too familiar, and when the revelation of Harry’s past comes up, it lacks the emotional punch needed to care about the two characters adequately.
“…feels like a coffee table photography book…pause the film at most any moment and have a striking picture.”
There’s one thing I especially liked about A Life in August, and it’s the cinematography. Although this is a common go-to compliment, when writing a negative review, it’s actually true in McLaren’s film. About 85% of the footage feels like a coffee table photography book. You could literally pause the movie at most any moment and have a striking picture. It’s clear a great deal of time and preparation was spent in framing and composition. For example, Harry walking along on the beach, is shot in shadows with the moonlight shaping his silhouette. It’s not all perfect, but a good lesson is here in lighting darkened rooms, viewing projected film footage, and a visit to the stables in the dead of night. Honestly, I found myself lost in the imagery and at times, ignored the story (For the record, I’ve seen the movie twice).
I want to like movies. It never brings me joy to write a bad review. The problems with A Life in August falls within the overall construction of the story. One cannot just string together plot points and hope audiences feel sympathy for characters, just because we feel bad for their situation. We want to have a reason to connect with characters, and it’s up to filmmakers to make that connection happen. In the end, the film made an earnest attempt. It just wasn’t strong enough to warrant a full-length feature film.
"…makes him go to a marriage counselor, and Harry is offended by the personal assault..."
I wonder how much time and attention the reviewer invested in this film? Going with some of the statements above I would imagine not much. This film is layered in a way that you have to think about the dynamics of a relationship, use your mind to fill the blanks, engage in the subtitles and complexities that are going for this couple. Its not meant to be a shoot em up attention grabbing film. To engage in this film you have to slow your mind down and be with the couple, that is the great attraction of A Life in August. The reviewer has missed the point I feel as well as stating some inaccuracies in his observations. It is Harry’s father who has died not his friend, Lisa does not complain to her doctor and how did he come up with the term “overly depressed”? Perhaps going back to film and giving it the attention it deserves would result in a more balanced review.