Lost Transmissions

In Lost Transmissions Theo Ross (Simon Pegg) is the life of the party — he’s charming, talented, and a gifted music producer.  He sees something in Hannah (Juno Temple), and together they start working on a song.  But when Theo goes off his medication for schizophrenia, his world starts to crumble — he misses his bills, gets evicted, and pushes away all his friends.  Hannah tries to help him but faces challenges associated with his jaded friends, estranged family, and a broken health care system. 

“When Theo goes off his medication for schizophrenia, his world starts to crumble…”

Simply put, Lost Transmissions is Simon Pegg’s best role to date.  His Theo Ross is charming, charismatic, troubled, sometimes scary, but so, so human.  Never once do you feel like he’s going over the top, or even hamming it up when he’s laying on the charm.  Simon Pegg is a charismatic guy, but he’s not playing Simon Pegg here.  Somehow he summons charisma from a different place as Theo Ross.  It is almost purely a dramatic role — sure he’s charming and a little funny, but the seriousness far outweighs the lightheartedness.  This would have been an easy role to screw up.  Many actors would have played it too big and had it become a caricature.  But he completely and totally nails the charm, loneliness, terror, and unpredictability of Theo.  He’s going to be getting a lot of calls for dramatic roles after this. 

Juno Temple turns in a great performance as well.  Her Hannah is a talented budding artist, but she’s unsure of herself. She also has an extraordinary heart.  She has a loving, but not exactly romantic relationship with Theo, and we get a great sense of their bond with one another.  Juno Temple’s role is not as flashy as Simon Pegg’s, but it is just as emotional, and essential to the success of the movie.  The music in the film is great, and Temple is convincing as a singer doesn’t always know what she’s doing, but has talent to be excavated if she can find someone to help her.