"It is not a good time for unselfishness." Every year the G8 summit brings together the eight most powerful nations in the world in order to discuss everything from international security to coffee tariffs. And there, over the course of a week, some of the most important decisions for the future are made, sometimes for year, and others for a generation. Most of the time, however, tough decisions are compromised as these leaders focus on pushing what they believe to be achievable rather than something historic. By trying to cover all of the topics equally they simply don't give enough strength to those that might be most impactful.
The G8 summit will be the backdrop for most of the action of this tale, but it begins in a cafe in London when a quiet little man sits across from a quiet little woman. Lawrence is about 60, works for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and is completely devoted to his work. Straight laced, perfectly shy, and with a head for factoids and statistics it is clear that he leads a life devoted to the sovereign. Sitting opposite a girl half his age was something most unexpected for him, though perhaps not for us.
She is Gina, an equally mild mannered Scottish girl who owns about four blouses, and has absolutely nothing in the world to occupy her time. So much about her remains unsaid, but even though she is enigmatic her sweet face and cute obscenities make her endearing. Lawrence talking to her was dumbfounding to her, but she responds gently, and their relationship...well it doesn't flower, but it buds.
Individually, these characters would have made for interesting study. Putting them together, however, was painfully boring. The entire first act of the film was nothing but small talk. A relationship can not be based on small talk, but they managed to make the first thirty minutes nothing but that. It was clear that Lawrence wanted something more, but it was like watching a snail race to see where the film might take off.
It does (after a gruelingly long time) when Lawrence invites her--after very few dates--to accompany him to the G8 summit in Reykjavik. Surprisingly (for the characters, not for the audience of course) she agrees. After a tumultuous beginning they arrive in Iceland, and through a slip-up are forced to share a room together. Gina takes the couch. Throughout their time together Lawrence has been spouting off facts and figures with regards to the Millennium Development Goals--goals to end extreme poverty within a few short years--and once they are at the summit Gina takes it upon herself to learn more.
While there she embarrasses herself, Lawrence, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer (not to mention the British PM) by confronting them about these new facts that she learns about child mortality, statistics of women dying in childbirth, the number of people living on less than $2 a day. The Chancellor confronts Lawrence about it saying that the G8 summit is supposed to be without protesters. I kept trying to figure out a motive for her outbursts; the actual reason was not fulfilling, but left me even more curious about her past.
Structurally this movie was completely backwards. I was frustrated by it, because so much of the beginning of the film was taken to establish a genuine relationship built on pathos, but we come to realize that it was only a vehicle for the films actual humanitarian message. I have no problem with a film trying to make the case that it did, but it seemed almost unfair to the characters that their relationship should be nothing more than a way to get an average working-girl with shady past in the presence of some of the most important figures in the world. I felt like they were cheated.
Further, as I mentioned earlier, the two characters were far too shy to be together in the way that they were. There were so few supporting characters that the love story was built around two people who didn't know what to say to one another, who were afraid to be intimate. I think the problem falls on the shoulders of the director, David Yates (who I love and was very disappointed to see his name in the credits). Listening to his very good dialogue it seems to me that Bill Nighy's Lawrence should not have been as flummoxed and unsure of himself as he was. It became almost silly the way that he could barely speak a line to her even after they had spent so much time together. He was quiet around other people, yes, but when he spoke he at least seemed sure of himself. I think Yates created characters that could not be supported by one another, and so they failed.
The end of the film is predictable and overly sentimental. The writing is devilishly witty, but bogged down by strange performances.
1.5/4
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