253. Modern Life Is Rubbish; movie review

MODERN LIFE IS RUBBISH
Cert 15
101 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong language, drugs misuse

İNDİRME LİNKİ 1 İNDİRME LİNKİ 2 İNDİRME LİNKİ 3
Take a bit of the Irish romantic musical Once and chuck in a large pinch of Nick Hornby's ideas in High Fidelity and you would come up with Modern Life Is Rubbish.
Daniel Gill's movie is an early 2000s romance with a superb soundtrack which lured me into singing along (I watched it on itunes rather than the cinema).
But letting it rip to the likes of The Kooks didn't cover the tracks of a storyline which is rather predictable and has a lead character who grates for almost all of its 101 minutes.
The movie's story surrounds a young couple, Natalie (Freya Mavor) and Liam (Josh Whitehouse) who are in the throes of splitting up rather acrimoniously.
Flashbacks to their first meeting and subsequent love-in reveal that their only common interest is a fandom of indie and classic rock.
Thereafter, it is difficult to see why they are together at all. He is a selfish layabout who hopes to make it big with his band without demonstrating any dedication to their cause, and she has ambitions towards a career and family.
The longer the movie progresses the more irritating Liam becomes and the more pity is engendered for the beleaguered Natalie.
Worse still, Liam develops a nasty streak which manifests itself in aggression towards anyone who is not bought into his distorted view of the world.
Therefore, he not only sucks the zest for life from anyone who he contacts but also drained away my desire to see any more of him.
Modern Life Is Rubbish's soundtrack offers a resistance to his melancholy but it cannot win the day.
Indeed, my problem with it is summed up by Liam frowning at a girl for her assessment of one of his favourite bands - Radiohead.
His character reflects their miserable dirges. I struggled to watch him as much as I find their music indigestible.

Reasons to watch: Great soundtrack
Reasons to avoid: Romance is rather predictable

Laughs: A couple of chuckles
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Blink and you would miss it
Overall rating: 5/10

Director quote - Daniel Gill: "When you hear a song, you sometimes get nostalgic and think about a time where you had a good moment."

The big question - With the demise of records and CDs, is music more difficult to share between lovers than it has ever been?