Aftersun (2006)

 

Aftersun is another short TV movie, like Micky Love.  I think it makes for a very worthwhile hour – nice little film driven by thoughtfully-drawn characters and excellent performances.

 

Jim and Sue, high school sweethearts going on 20 years of marriage, have just become empty nesters.  For their anniversary, their children give them a two-week holiday in Spain (way to go – making the rest of us look bad!), but their relaxing time away quickly devolves into tense squabbling and hurt feelings.  Their next-door neighbors, a tirelessly passionate young couple, make them feel old and unloving, and as the days stretch on and the temperature rises, you start to wonder if their marriage will survive this getaway.

 

PC plays Jim.  Right from the get-go, he sours the idea of a vacation, constantly taking work calls and complaining about the inconvenience of being sent on holiday.  He exclusively wears “special” socks and hasn't had a new swimsuit since his honeymoon, he loves reading about World War II atrocities, and he has a “foreign voice” that he only uses when he's abroad, adopting a Yoda-like syntax in the hopes of being understood by non-English-speakers.  He's a little curmudgeonly, a little pedantic, and more than a little exasperating as a fellow traveler.

 

I really like this performance.  Aftersun is the type of story that lives and dies by its characters, and PC holds up his end quite capably.  Jim is a well-fleshed-out example of familiar husband/father archetypes, and PC is wholly believable in the role.  As he and Sue get more and more on each other's nerves, I just want to smack him for being so obtuse, but he also has a number of really honest moments where it's clear how much he loves Sue and how badly he wants his marriage to hold together.

 

Sarah Parish from Who’s “The Runaway Bride” also stars in this film.  She plays Sue and looks significantly less like a spider than she did on Who.

 

Accent Watch

 

Scottish.  

 

Recommend?

 

In General – I would; I liked this a lot.  The central characters are so round, and I think this little film is pretty well-made.

 

PC-wise – Very much so.  PC is excellent here, and he's one of the leads.

 

Warnings

 

A bit of swearing, light drug use, and some sexual discussion.  There's also a scene of naked swimming (you don't see anything) and a few banana-hammock appearances.