As Good As It Gets

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Really? After a clockwork orange and the wall, did you really think you stood a chance? Marillion, stays mediocre for a reason,... This dead and beaten horse needs to stay in the grave.. Marillion's feeble attempt to revive such modern clichés wasn't meant for video, it is clearly not the best vehicle of choice for crafting and communicating a concept album, especially after compiling the tracks first, and the film later. The production has a paint by numbers feeling to it, not enough place for imagination nor any power of suggestion left open to interpretation. On the other hand, I'm sure it made great publicity for it's time.I have been following Marillion since 1984 and endured the transition from Fish to Steve Hogarth, not sure what to think, either a mockery of Derek Dick's old camp (the old band)or the story of a very,very lost and misplaced childhood. If video killed the radio song Marillion just proved it....

I liked director Richard Stanley's HARDWARE and I really liked DUST DEVIL so when I saw this "concept" film by the director on DVD, I forked over the money and crossed my fingers. Brave is a film that revolves around it's musical score which is a full length album by a British band called Marillion. Now, I'm not a fan of their music. Aside from some nice ambient moments I can barely stand the tunes but I wasn't going to let this stand in the way of my enjoyment of the film. I figured Stanley would amaze me given the creative control one assumes comes with making a "concept film". Expecting the surreal, bizarre and abstract, I was instead given a repetitive, boring and clichéd 50 minute music video. The story concerns a young woman who has lost her memory and is being hypnotized, remembering various (mostly painful) moments of her life that have led he to a bridge, possibly to kill herself. Sounds promising but everything is so dull and predictable. The effects look cheap and the imagery lacks the punch I was hoping for. Worst of all, Stanley cuts to footage of the band "rocking out" or close ups of the singer being a poser and singing into the camera throughout the film. There's a lot of emotion in the songs, performances and story, but it all falls flat for me. Fans of Marillion might be forgiving but those watching this hoping for a dose of Richard Stanley will likely be disappointed. Three stars out of ten for the honest attempt and the odd moment that works.

Arguably Marillion's greatest achievement in a career of consistent lack of recognition, Brave is a remarkable piece of music with astounding lyrics. Steve Hogarth sinks into the world of an angst ridden teenager with frightening accuracy, but in the hands of Richard Stanley the idea of making a vivid visual accompaniment to the songs collapses into embarrassment. The movie looks dreadful for a start, with horridly crude special effects. The little dialogue there is is cringeable. And a relatively simple story becomes complicated and confused, with men in masks and voodoo temples wandering in and out of the story for no reason. This is just being obscure for the sake of it; there are no meanings being this chaotic mess. Even the opening sequence of the girl on the bridge is bland. It's shot in daylight...everything that could be wrong with such scenes is. Josie Ayres is suitably expressive in the lead but she clearly deserves better than this. It's childish and tries to shock, but only alienates. It all goes to show that the idea of a music video is frequently a bad one, robbing music of the richness of your own personal imaginings. And yet Marillion have done a few god 'uns, namely Kayleigh, Sugar Mice and He Knows You Know.

The haunting video that accompanied the Marillion's eighth studio album. The film tells the fictional story about a confused runaway girl who's picked up by the police when found wandering at the Severn Bridge.A police psychiatrist tries to unravel the mystery about the girl, who refuses to talk. He learns about her problems in her childhood, when she was abused by her father, her running away, her drug-abusing and more terrible things. Meanwhile almost all the songs of Marillion's album is being played.Although maybe not the best film in the world, it will definitely leave you with a strange taste in your mouth. It helps if you like the Marillion's music though.