A Long Way Down (Film)


‘I just feel humiliation’ - Martin

The Pascal Chaumeil directed adaption of Nick Hornby’s bestselling novel cuts out many details from the novel and causes the film to appear as an uncohesive work.
When watching the 2014 adaption I was convinced that i was watching a badly edited version as the film skipped around so much and left out vital details like Jess’ relationship with her family or JJ’s reasons for wanting to kill himself. But at 1 hour and 30 minutes it was all there or I guess wasn’t. It appears that the writer, Jack Throne relied heavily on the fact that people would know the novel and just fill in the gaps, but despite knowing the story well myself I still felt that wasn’t clear.

The film takes way the ability to emote with each character. Admittedly this is to be expected from films that traditionally aren’t told from more than perspective. The back-story of each character is briefly put on their car journey after coming down from the roof but it is developed. They each get their little introspective segment at different parts of the film but for me it felt like it was giving introductions too late where someone would no longer care to know. It did confirm though that for me a feeling I had when reading the book, that Martin is looked upon as the main character as he takes control of everything.

Chaumeil explores the sexual tension between Jess (Imogen Poots) and JJ 
(Aaron Paul) that Hornby alludes to in the novel and I was one of the few changes made that I applaud. Additionally I liked the addition of the hospital scene even though initially I was screaming at the screen that this wasn’t in the book. It showed the deep connection the Topper House Four had with each other from the get go and the sentiment and importance of the new year for many. However as much as I appreciated it, the additions didn’t rescue the film for me.

In a way though I ‘m glad that the film did so badly because now I feel like I’m apart of an elite group of people who complain about the book being nothing like the movie.

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