Jeri
Jacquin
Coming
to theatres from directors Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn and Bleeker Street
is the story of the unexpected bumps in a couple’s life of ORDINARY LOVE.
Joan
(Lesley Manville) and Tom (Liam Neeson) have settled into a life that is
comfortable for them both. Their routine includes a brisk walk, shopping,
television time and humor that is easy for this couple. The comfortable life is
interrupted when Joan discovers a lump in her breast.
Keeping
everything easy in conversation until they know something more, Joan and Tom continue
with their life. When the results are not what they were hoping, the life they
had been sharing becomes a test on everything they had been holding on to.
Early
into her treatment, Joan meets Peter (David Wilmot) who is a teacher. Now Joan
feels a kinship to someone who understands what having cancer brings out in
emotions. Spending time in the cafeteria during Joan’s treatments, Tom meets
Peter’s partner Steve (Amit Shah) and finds the same kinship of having someone
you love living in fear.
As
the treatment progresses so does the tension between two people who truly love
one another because spending years together with a history.
Manville
as Joan is a woman who will forever have a place in my heart. This film brings
a very realistic look at the fear, anxiety and frustration that comes with the
word ‘cancer’. Even more so for a woman when it is breast cancer. Every thought
that came across her face I understood as will most women who have ever had to
deal with this disease. From the moment Joan finds the lump to the very end of
the film, I remembered that feeling of having no control of
anything. Manville is stunning – period.
Neeson
as Tom is a man who takes life one day at a time. He wit with Joan is something
I couldn’t help but laugh at. Come on, who doesn’t want a partner who can match
wits and bring out the best sarcasm. Coming to terms with Joan’s prognosis, he
deals with the same feelings of fear, anxiety and frustration except his tact
is to keep it inside to be the strong part of the partnership. Even superman
can’t keep that up before emotions come to a head. The conversation with his
daughter is nothing short of heartbreaking. Well, just when I couldn’t adore
Neeson more he gives me reason too.
Wilmot
as Peter shares his feelings with Joan, and it is only natural that the two
strike up a friendship. Being brutally honest about their feelings is something
each can’t do with their partner. Shah as Steve is lost, and Tom sees it from
across the room which makes their friendship a bit of a life raft.
ORDINARY
LOVE is almost an indescribably film because it is based in a subject matter
that most people find uncomfortable. Yes, there are films that deal with cancer,
but this is a raw and in-your-face look at what it looks like skin to skin. Cancer
takes, and takes, and takes and takes until the lid of safety we all create in
our lives is weakened to the point of explosion.
Tom
and Joan have a comfortable life but that doesn’t mean there aren’t issues in
the life history they share that have never been truly resolved or spoken of. This
is also a time where Joan realizes things about herself that are eye opening
(if cancer isn’t enough) and Tom also stretches his emotions to what seems like
a dangerous place for this character.
Manville
and Neeson carry this film from start to finish and they don’t slack at any
point. What they give is a fantastic performance that I easily forgot was a
performance. Perhaps it is because I have been in Joan’s shoes myself or perhaps,
I felt she had a love with Tom that many of us didn’t have going through a
difficult time.
So,
what ORDINARY LOVE does for those who have experienced cancer, a reminder of what
it means to survive and for those that have not experienced it, this is a film to
experience how close this film truly is.
I
adored Joan and Tom’s relationship in its simplicity and humor and as more of
their story is revealed, you feel for this couple even more and become the
outside cheerleader to push them toward healing.
In
the end – love doesn’t give up.
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