SOMERS TOWN review

SOMERS TOWN is shot in grainy black and white, and almost seems like a film from another era, it is at times very slow moving but also has poignant moments which are relayed to the audience in an extremely anti melodramatic manner. There are some nice scenes between the two very capable actors, Tommo and Marek, who play natural characters, but as a whole, the film seemed to lack the extra energy which has made Meadows` previous films so enjoyable. At certain points being more likely to induce drowsiness rather than enlightenment, I felt that SOMERS TOWN never quite meshes together to form a completely coherent, flowing film. This is a shame because deep within the movie, there is definite heart and some strong themes, especially the relationship between Tommo and Marek, and their rivalry over the beautiful waitress Maria.

SOMERS TOWN certainly has integrity, and it has genuine heart, but in the end its approach simply becomes too much of too little to achieve what it is obviously setting out to do. The actors do a strong job with the script and Meadows certainly manages to get more than a few compelling scenes out of all involved, but the overwhelming feeling by the end is one of disquieted indifference; there’s no denying that these seventy minutes feature some fine moments, but such indulgences could probably have been better suited to a short film format. It’s a decently short affair, but did not make that big of an impression on me personally.

Review by LiveWire Critic, Jayne Rudd (Sep ’08)