Common People

A really charming and uplifting film about the kind of people you might meet in a local park. It’s as if ‘Love, Actually’ had been made about more common people. The film starts out slowly while all the different characters and their stories are introduced, but there are some really funny bits to keep you interested (the first scene with the boy scouts had me in stitches). It was made a few years ago, but the issues it touches on - racism, homelessness, debt, assisted suicide - still feel pertinent today. There’s also an air of optimism about the storytelling that keeps it from feeling too heavy handed or kitchen sink. You can tell it was shot on a shoestring, but for me, that was part of its appeal. It feels heart-felt and hand-crafted rather than something produced in a Hollywood factory. Diana Payan and the late Sam Kelly are particularly touching as an elderly couple still very much in love. I had a smile on my face while the tears flowed down my cheeks at the end.

Movie made at Palmers Green Park in London. Very cheap and boring and it is not comedy at all.

O