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Wednesday, August 7, 2019

COMFORT AND JOY (1984)

After charming international audiences with quirky coming-of-age comedy GREGORY’S GIRL/’80 and the eccentric Capitalist satire of LOCAL HERO/’83, Scottish writer/director Bill Forsyth was lured to Hollywood for three films and out. He’s hardly been heard from since.* Lost between early promise and fast-fade, this masterpiece; just about the wisest, most joyous character study out there, and, as bonus, one of the most unexpected & satisfying of Christmas films. With cinematographer Chris Menges capturing the soft Glasgow light, we follow beloved morning DJ Bill Paterson around town and thru an early mid-life crisis: dumped by longtime kleptomaniac live-in, looking for new challenges at work; stumbling into a local Ice Cream Truck War when he was only trying to check out the pretty counter girl. (Okay, ogling.) The balance between daily events & personal revelation/acceptance by turns funny, winning, odd, touching & true. Brought across by Paterson with a finesse thought lost when William Powell retired. With plenty of screamingly funny moments coming when you least expect them. No pandering, no cheating to get a laugh or a point across, and ending with a dusting of Christmas bliss most films can only dream of touching.

DOUBLE-BILL: *Of three Stateside pics, the middle one, BREAKING IN/’89 comes closest to harnessing the unique Forsyth voice.

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