As Good As It Gets

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

In truth, any opportunity to see the film on the big screen is welcome.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Could I be Franco with you? Writer-Director Michel Franco has probably developed one of the most melancholy films I have ever seen in "Chronic"; and I don't mean in a "bring your hankie" kind of way, I am referring to an environment where there is a colossal field of hopelessness. "Chronic" stars Tim Roth as David, a hospice nurse who cares for dying cancer patients. The film centers around David's interactions with his "near death" patients, but also on a dark secret of his own past. Franco nurses "Chronic" with an immensely slow burn; which at times emphasizes the narrative, but at times it's too much of a torturous viewing. Not to say that there is not authenticity within the film of dying cancer patients, but its just a tough pill to swallow; especially if one of your loved ones has or has had fallen to the same health horror. Franco's screenplay is underplayed here as the actual images have more of a striking impact to the picture. Tim Roth does marvel in an understated but gripping performance as David. "Chronic" is the epitome of a "bad feel" movie, but there is no denying its chronic hard truth about the devastation of cancer. Cancer sucks! *** Average

As a person who suffers from chronic pain, it brought to me a sense of compassion for David as he is clearly dedicated to his patients and that was very touching. I felt that the movie moved brilliantly as it mirrored the lives of people who are sick, struggling and suffering. When you are ill with a sickness for long periods of time, life does move slowly for you. Days are much longer, harder to deal with as the hours tick by while you struggle for relief or an offering of help/compassion. You can also see that behind Davids eyes, he carries much grief and possibly guilt for his son, as you discover through the conversations that he shares throughout the movie. It is almost as if he is trying to redeem himself for his choices in the past, good or bad, that he seeks redemption. As for the ending, I was shocked as to how it played out. At first I thought it was by accident, but then I thought of Davids pain and guilt. I felt as if he could never truly forgive himself, given the prior conversations he had with others, and he felt that he could no longer live with that pain. I have always enjoyed Tim Roth and found his portrayal of David spot on.

Given that the subject matter was not easy, I still think Chronic could have been better. The fact that it was about people being terminally ill, and going through the indignities of chemo and dying, did not justify having a style that also felt deathlike. There were several instances in which the camera lingered on Tim Roth as David simply sitting or standing and thinking. The finale of the film, when he was jogging along, seemed absurd: I didn't time it, but the camera was on him as he jogged from one block to the next and cars rode around him for what seemed way too long. In several instances the film bordered on boring, and it shouldn't have. The subject matter in itself was troubling enough without feeling depressed by the way the movie was made.

One warning first. Don't go to see this movie if you are not in the mood to.Don't go to see this movie if one of your friends or relatives is suffering of a lethal disease such as cancer, AIDS or what so ever...Don't go to watch this movie if you are depressed or just to commit suicide.But, yes, yes, yes it's a wonderful, moving story here showing the daily burden of a male home nurse taking care of terminal cancer phase or severe brain vascular damages patients. Some very hard watching scenes but nothing gratuitous here, on the contrary, so close to reality. Tim Roth is terrific in this feature, in this ambivalent, disturbing but so kind man in the same time. A so gripping character. I love the film making, with so many still camera shots all the time, in the pure European or non Hollywood films style. And the story is very like another movie from UK I watched this year: STILL LIFE. With a very similar character and a very same ending. A real must see but not for all audiences.