While we're young (Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts)

(Amazon UK link)

I had never heard of the 2014 film ‘When we’re young’. But when I saw it in a charity shop, I thought it worth trying. The blurb on the back sounded intriguing, the picture on the front reasonably appealing, and it had a good cast of actors listed. The blurb on the back said it was intelligent, honest, perceptive and (among other things) utterly hilarious. 

We watched it last night. I would agree that it’s reasonably intelligent (though not throughout) and quite perceptive in places. But we didn’t find it hilarious, and certainly didn’t laugh every minute as the DVD case implied. We did smile a few times, and appreciated that it wasn’t meant to be taken too seriously. And yet some important issues are covered.

Josh (Ben Stiller) and Cornelia (Naomi Watts) are a married couple in their early forties. They’re not unhappy, exactly, but seem to be drifting apart. We quickly learn that although they tried to have a family, it wasn’t successful. And they’re both fairly content with the circumstances, pointing out that they can go wherever they want any time…even though they rarely go anywhere. We first meet them feeling rather awkward with their friends Marina and Fletcher who have just become doting parents. 

Josh has produced some good films in the past but has been feeling very blocked, and isn’t getting anywhere with his latest production, which he has been working on for eight years. His funding has dried up, and his editor is getting a bit fed up with not being paid. We see snippets of a long and rather tedious film. 

Josh also lectures, and meets a young couple (in their twenties) called Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried). They express strong admiration for Josh’s work and say that they want to make documentaries too. Josh has made it clear that documentaries need to be real and honest. He and Cornelia have dinner with Jamie and Darby and strike up a friendship. 

There’s some mildly amusing contrast between their lifestyles; Jamie and Darby are very relaxed, bohemian and also surprisingly ‘retro’.  Josh has CDs and DVDs, Jamie and Derby have a huge vinyl record collection. Josh starts trying to emulate Jamie, buying a similar hat and shoes, but realises that he isn’t in his twenties any more… 

The action is quite fast, sometimes rapidly showing images that communicate without words, as we see the progress of this rather lopsided relationship. Cornelia tries to stay in touch with her older friends but they are totally caught up in baby activities and she feels as if they have moved in a different direction.  So she and Jamie go to a bizarre new age weekend where they take drugs and start hallucinating and then throwing up, which is gross rather than amusing, in my view.

I wondered a few times what the plot was, and where the story was going, if anywhere. I didn’t really understand all the ramifications of the documentaries that were being made and discussed, or why Josh seemed determined to have hours and hours of rather dull material in his production. I was also unimpressed with the regular use of ‘strong’ language - the same word, dozens of times, used casually, making the speakers seem immature and lacking creativity. 

However, the acting is in general good, the music blends in well, and it’s quite thought-provoking as Josh and Cornelia wonder whether youth has passed them by, or whether they are in fact more comfortable with who they are. The story itself gets going towards the end when Josh realises something that changes his perception. There’s quite a dramatic scene towards the end as two characters argue about what authenticity and honesty really mean. 

There’s a brief epilogue too, which I liked, showing two of the characters a year later, with friends in what I thought was quite an encouraging conclusion.  

The rating is 15, which must be due to the excessive amount of bad language. There’s no violence or nudity, or anything more intimate than a few passionate kisses. 

I don't know that I'd particularly recommend it, but if you see it in a charity shop and want something a. bit different, it's not a bad film. 

Review copyright 2025 Sue's DVD Reviews

The story of us (Michelle Pfeiffer, Bruce Willis)

(Amazon UK link)

I found the 1999 film ‘The story of us’ on DVD when browsing the shelves at our local thrift store a few weeks ago. The cover said it was wonderful and romantic, the image looked appealing, and it starred Michelle Pfeiffer who was one of my father’s favourite actors. I had never heard of it, but never mind paying 50 cents to try something new. 

We decided to watch it last night, and were quickly engrossed in the story. It features a couple who have been married for fifteen years. Bruce Willis plays Ben, and Michelle Pfeiffer is his wife Katie. We see them initially sitting with their children, twelve-year-old Josh (Jake Sandvig) and ten-year-old Erin (Colleen Rennison). 

Ben asks each of them what their high and low spots of the day were, evidently a game they play regularly. Then Erin points out that her parents’ anniversary is the following day and they agree that they’re going out for a meal. However when the children leave the room it’s clear that Ben and Katie really don’t care about spending time together. They barely acknowledge each other, except when pretending to the children that everything is fine.

We see them, a day or two later, driving the children to a bus to take them to a holiday camp - not a week or two, as I expected, but for two months. And then they drive home, where Katie is dropped off and Ben goes to stay in a hotel. Much of the film then follows them during the next couple of months as they get on with their separate lives (Ben is a writer, Katie compiles crosswords). There are regular flashbacks, sometimes showing times when they were deeply in love, but more often showing arguments or misunderstandings that turned into shouting matches.

It sounds rather depressing but there’s a lot of humour too, in part from their friends who share far too many intimate details from their own relationships. This, I assume is what gives the film its 15 rating, as well as some instances of ‘strong’ language. There’s no actual nudity other than one rear view which is amusing rather than intimate, and only one scene that would be considered ‘adult’ rated, but it’s interrupted before anything much transpires.

But there's also some humour from the couple's many visits to therapists, none of whom were particularly helpful. One of them does explain what he believes happens when a couple are in bed... and that leads to a very cleverly-done scene where six people, with perfect comic timing, are all talking at the same time. 

The chemistry between the two principals is, we thought, excellent. When they are getting on, they do so very realistically. When they have rows, they’re perhaps predictable, neither giving way, both taking things personally. I wanted to stop them, to make them think about what they were saying and whether they really meant it… they were definitely getting under my skin. But at the same time I could see that, albeit caricatured, some of the arguments were all too believable.

We see, too, the way that their relationship started to show rifts when Katie was trying to deal with cooking, laundry, and two small children. Ben is a good father, but doesn’t realise just how hard Katie was working or how difficult it was for her. Katie feels restrained; when they met, they were both fun-loving creative people, but while Ben has retained his spontaneity and enjoyment of life, she has felt as if she had to impose some structure and discipline in their lives, in order to get anything done. And this has become another thing that they fight about.

There’s not a whole lot of direct plot; it’s situational and character-based rather than having much story. But the pace is good, the humour understated but just enough to lighten what could have been quite stressful. There’s an interlude in Venice which draws Ben and Katie together, not because of the romance of the place but because of a truly ghastly (albeit caricatured) couple, also from the United States, who they keep bumping into…

I had no idea where the relationship was going to go; it isn’t until near the end that there is a resolution, after an impassioned (and brilliantly executed) monologue from Katie. I did find myself wondering why the children were happy to stay for so long in the car, after two entire months away from their parents… but only in passing.

I gather this film didn’t get a great response from initial reviewers or the public, perhaps because it doesn’t have much plot and there’s a lot of stressful arguing. But as the ‘making of’ extra said, it was trying to pinpoint why a marriage might go wrong, not because of infidelity or anything major; just through the stresses and strains of life. 

We thought it quite thought-provoking, and overall liked it very much. We were both pleased about how it ended, too. I would recommend it for people who have been in relationships for some years; I don’t think it would appeal to anyone who is single, and might be rather disturbing for someone just embarking on a new relationship. 

Review copyright 2025 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Good Life (series 1-4, complete)

(Amazon UK link)

We watched six episodes from Series One of ‘The Good Life’ at the start of last year. It was a BBC sitcom from the 1970s, featuring Tom and Barbara Good (Richard Briers and Felicity Kendall). As Tom approached his 40th birthday he became increasingly fed up with corporate life, and decided (with Barbara’s support and encouragement) to become self-sufficient. 

We enjoyed these six episodes so much that I decided to acquire the full box set with all four seasons. I was able to do so when in the UK in April, and we started watching again in early May. We began with the remaining episode of series one which was not on the first DVD we had, and then saw the other three series over the rest of the year. We usually watched one per week, sometimes two. Apparently there are thirty episodes in all.

Looking back, it’s hard to recall any specific story, as there are inevitably similarities. It’s character-based as much as plot-based. Tom and Barbara are very happily married, even if he’s a bit pompous at times, and they are good at helping each other become more positive if one of them feels depressed. Their next-door neighbours are their closest friends: Jerry (Paul Eddington) and Margo (Penelope Keith) are money-oriented and Margo in particular likes to entertain, to keep her house perfect, and to be seen as someone significant in the neighbourhood. She’s a snob, and disapproves of the Goods’ venture - but she’s also kind-hearted, and they remain close friends to the end. 

Tom and Barbara’s forays into self-sufficiency have inevitable downs as well as ups. So we see them gradually acquiring more animals and finding ways to house them. We see them inventing a kind of vehicle to transport bigger items, much to Margo’s horror. They learn to weave, and to dye clothes as well as experimenting with different kinds of crops, and they negotiate prices with local shopkeepers to sell their excess.

There are some very amusing scenes and exchanges, and in almost every episode we found ourselves chuckling more than once. And it was also quite thought-provoking. Would someone really give up their phone, their electricity and more to follow this kind of lifestyle, on ecological principles? They do it in a nice suburb in the south of the UK and to keep going despite the disapproval of others. And this is the 1970s when people were much less aware of the potential of climate change and other ecological disasters. Tom and Barbara were way ahead of their time.

Series Four is not very long, but our DVDs had the bonus of two final ‘specials’: the first is a Christmas one, contrasting Tom and Felicity having a home-made Christmas with Jerry and Margo whose Christmas all comes in a van, ordered at great cost. Margo is arguing with the delivery man about her tree being six inches shorter than the one she had ordered, not realising that if she sent everything away, she might have nothing… we thought it a very good episode, showing what really matters in life.

Then there was a ‘command performance’ special, which began with film of the Queen and other dignitaries arriving in the BBC studio to watch the making of one of the episodes, filmed life. The entire episode is then shown, not the ‘making of’, with some brief appearances of all the cast at the end, when the action moves back to the studio.  

This last episode features Tom and Barbara’s anniversary of his leaving work and embarking on their self-sufficient lifestyle. There are some shocks as well as some humour, and they have to consider seriously whether they might have to give up. 

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed this sitcom, which doesn’t feel as if it’s fifty years old. The chemistry between the characters is all too real, even if Margo is rather a caricature, and some of the issues raised are very relevant in today’s more eco-conscious world.

The rating is PG which seems about right; there's no real violence, certainly no nudity or explicit scenes, but there are some implications of intimacies although they would probably go over children's heads. The subject matter isn't really appropriate for children anyway, and I doubt if children or even teenagers would find this very interesting.

Highly recommended if you like this kind of thing.  

Review copyright 2025 Sue's DVD Reviews

Doctor Who series 2 (David Tennant)

(Amazon UK link)

We finished watching the first 21st century series of Doctor Who (with Christopher Eccleston in the title role) in mid October. So it was time to move on to Series 2. We found these DVDs individually in a thrift store, more than twelve years ago. So we don’t actually have a box set as such, which means there are no ‘extras’. But that isn’t really a problem. I don’t think we even noticed the lack the first time we watched them, early in 2012. 

The first DVD has just two episodes, including the Christmas special which introduced the new Doctor; the others each have three episodes.

The Christmas invasion

This ‘special’, introducing David Tennant as the 10th doctor, was shown on Christmas Day 2005. We first see Rose’s mother Jackie (Camille Coduri) preparing a Christmas meal. She does so rather poignantly, as she thinks about her missing daughter. Then she hears the sound of the tardis, and her hopes rise..

Rose (Billie Piper) emerges with the doctor, who, of course, Jackie doesn’t recognise. And he’s very weak from the regeneration. I don’t recall that happening with subsequent doctors; not as seriously as this, anyway. He’s in a coma in Jackie’s flat while Rose and her boyfriend Mickey (Noel Clarke) become involved with some very stressful attacks from ‘Santa’ robots. 

It turns out that the robots are scouts for some dangerous aliens in a spaceship who want to destroy a significant number of the world’s population. The one scene I had remembered from our previous viewing of this episodes was thousands of people, walking like zombies, right to the edge of the roof of high-rise flats. As one with a phobia of heights, the thought of this was quite terrifying. 

I liked seeing Penelope Wilton as the prime minister in this episode, taking her role very seriously in a way that made us smile. I also very much enjoyed seeing David Tennant, when he finally gets over his coma. At first he acts a lot like Christopher Eccleston in his smiles, his manner of speaking and his way of relating to Rose. Naturally he solves the problem, and it seems that everything is ending happily until Harriet makes a decision that the Doctor is very annoyed about...

New Earth

The second episode on the first DVD sees the Doctor and Rose travel many thousand years into the future, to a ‘new’ earth - created after the first one was destroyed (shown in series one, episode two). They are relaxing in clean air, looking at happy people and flying cars… and they’re being stalked by a mechanical spider, controlled by someone who wants to know why they are there.

The one thing I recalled from this episode is a hospital manned by feline nurses. I hadn’t remembered anything else about who they meet, or the very disturbing way in which the nurses were managing to cure even the most lethal or dangerous of diseases. It’s an exciting episode, one where both David Tennant and Billie Piper have to demonstrate a bit of extra acting talent (which they do extremely well). 

Tooth and Claw

The first episode on the second DVD in the series is very well done, we thought. It’s a historical one, set in 1979 Scotland, rather than 1979, where the tardis had planned to travel. This episode features an excellent Queen Victoria (Pauline Collins). She is temporarily staying in a stately home where something terrifying is going on... 

School Reunion

The second episode on the second DVD starts off a bit lighter. It features The Doctor as a new physics teacher in a school where strange things have been happening. Rose's boyfriend Micky is involved, and although some of this episode is a bit gross, we still thought it was very well done.

The Girl in the Fireplace

The next episode has a clever and rather involved plot. It involves a mixture of a spaceship and characters in 18th century France, including some who were real people. There are also mechanical 'people' who are rather spooky but, once again, this is an excellent episode. The ones involving historical characters are some of my favourites.

The second DVD could stand alone, and might be a good introduction to Doctor Who if someone didn’t want to start at the beginning. We like re-watching them in order, as there are recurring characters and mentions of previous situations.

Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel 

The third DVD begins with a two-parter, which we watched in one evening. I really don’t like leaving these episodes on a cliff-hanger, and there was a very dramatic one at the end of the first part. 

I never did like the cybermen. It turns out, in this story, that they are taking over a parallel universe where the Doctor and Rose have landed, accidentally, through a breach, in the equivalent of London. The tardis has to recharge before they can leave. Rose finds that her father isn't just alive in this universe, but has become a big star. And he seems to have some connection with the big businessman who wants to 'upgrade' everyone into cyberpeople.

Then Rose's boyfriend Micky, also travelling in the tardis, is mistaken for his parallel person Ricky. These episodes are quite chilling, disturbing at times, but I very much liked the human interest parts, and thought they were extremely well done.

The Idiot’s Lantern

Episode 7 of the series, last on the third DVD, is set in London (in the normal universe) in 1953. The Queen is about to be crowned, and people are keen to get televisions. But some areas seem to have a huge number of TVs for the era. One particular salesman is making far more sales than would be expected.

There are bizarre disappearances, and something strange and disturbing happens to people who watch TV…

This episode is lighter than the Cybermen two-parter, with a positive ending. It’s also quite thought-provoking, although the usual dangers of too much screen-time are not as excessive as those portrayed in this episode!

We didn't watch the next two episodes on this DVD, either the first time we saw Series 2, or more recently. One of our sons had warned us that if we found cybermen scary, we would have nightmares from this two-part episode. I did read about them, and decided we would avoid them.  It was interesting to learn that they tell a story where the Ood race are introduced - the gentle, servant-hearted aliens who appear in future episodes.

Love and Monsters

The third episode on the fourth DVD, 10th in series 2, is quite light-hearted, with one or two scenes that made us smile. Rose's mother Jackie is involved, and the story is told by a young man called Elton who is filming a video in vlog format about his experiences. He and a group of four other people were involved in researching all they could about The Doctor, but gradually they started doing other things together, and became quite close. 

Then they're taken over by a very controlling man who - as is clear from the start - is not who he appears to be. He tries to make them focus on their ‘real’ purpose, and does so in highly coercive ways. This episode, like so many others in the series, is  very well made, and the main alien (apparently designed by a schoolboy for a competition) is bizarre enough not to be taken seriously, even though he's very dangerous.

The Doctor and Rose don't come into this episode as much as usual, but we enjoyed it anyway.

Fear her

And so to the final DVD in this series, with the last three episodes. The Doctor takes the tardis to 2012, shortly before the London Olympics, which they are planning to watch. They learn that the street where they arrive is full of fear, as children have been disappearing. It becomes clear to the viewer (though not, at first, to anyone else) that one little girl has strange powers. Whoever she draws will suddenly vanish. 

This, we thought was a very thought-provoking episode. There’s an alien (off screen entirely) who isn’t nearly as disturbing as it first appears. And there’s a human (also off screen) who is much more dangerous than the alien…

Army of Ghosts and Doomsday

Unsurprisingly, this series ends with another two-parter, and once again we watched both parts in one evening. The Doctor and Rose land in London again, only to find that every day some ‘ghosts’ appear. They seem to be harmless and amicable; Rose’s mother Jackie is certain that the one in her kitchen is her long-dead father. The Doctor knows this isn’t right and manages to trace the origin to Torchwood Tower. 

There are cybermen and daleks, infiltrating the world, and potentially leading to its doom. The Doctor manages a last-minute solution, but it means that Rose is forever separated from him, although with her other loved ones. There are some quite emotional scenes towards the end; I was quite engrossed in this story, and found it very moving.

Overall, we enjoyed this series very much. 

Review copyright 2024 Sue's DVD Reviews

A Christmas Carol (Patrick Stewart)

(Amazon UK link)

One of the Christmas DVDs we had not seen for a long time is ‘A Christmas Carol’, the 1999 ‘made for TV’ version with Patrick Stewart starring as Ebenezer Scrooge. We saw it in 2008, so it was more than time for a re-watch. We watched it on Christmas Eve.

It’s at least three decades since I read the Charles Dickens classic on which so many films have been based. But the basic story is well-known. Scrooge is such a miser that his name has become a synonym for meanness. We learn that his business partner, Jacob Marley, has died - we even see a brief cameo of the funeral. Then the main story takes place seven years later, on Christmas Eve. 

Patrick Stewart does not look anything like I have ever imagined Scrooge to be. I don’t understand why he wasn’t given a suitable wig for this film, to make him look more Victorian and rather older. But really that’s my only gripe. He is such a good actor that, as I became absorbed in the film, I quickly forgot my preconceived ideas, and saw him for the penny-pinching businessman Scrooge. 

Scrooge has one employee, Bob Cratchett (Richard E Grant) who is also very believable in his role. He is paid fifteen shillings per week, on which he can barely scrape by. But he has a wife and five children, and they are all happy - much happier than Scrooge despite their poverty. The youngest, ‘Tiny Tim’ is crippled; there’s no indication why, but he walks with a crutch and mostly has to be carried. Ben Tibber, who must have been eight or nine when this production was made, does well in this role.

Saskia Reeves is excellent, too, as Mrs Cratchett, holding the family together by her excellent housekeeping and cooking. Her other children are less distinct and perhaps over-acting a bit, but it doesn't much matter. 

Scrooge reluctantly gives Bob a whole day off for Christmas, while muttering ‘humbug’, and then returns to his gloomy home where he starts seeing ghosts… starting with his former business partner. The ghost of Marley rattles chains and warns Scrooge that unless he changes, he, too, will be doomed to roam the earth full of regrets for his self-centered life. 

Some of the special effects look a bit dated, which isn’t surprising for a film that’s now over twenty-five years old. There are many adaptations of this story, and I expect modern ones are more realistic (if ghosts can ever be considered realistic), and perhaps more scary. But given the era, and the fact that the book was written for older children, it’s not inappropriate to have very different and unscary ghosts. The third, who doesn’t speak, is perhaps the most disturbing, but then the third ghost shows Scrooge what might happen if he doesn’t change his ways.

Dickens cared deeply about the impoverished in society, and many of his novels form a kind of social commentary. ‘A Christmas carol’ is obviously intended to be a moral tale, demonstrating why it’s important to be kind and generous. Scrooge’s change of focus is perhaps a tad unlikely after so many years of selfish miserliness. But it’s done so well in this film that it feels quite realistic while watching. 

Knowing the story well did not in any way detract from my enjoyment of seeing this version. It’s rated PG which seems about right; there’s no violence or bad language, and parents will know whether or not the situations portrayed might upset their children. I doubt if it would be of much interest to very little ones anyway.

But for a good portrayal of the story, fairly close to the book, I would recommend this. 

Other related films we’ve watched in the past few years include:

* Scrooged (with Bill Murray) - a modern take on the story, not for children

* A Christmas Carol goes wrong - chaos and some slapstick, as an incompetent cast attempt a play

* The man who invented Christmas - a fictional portrayal of Dickens’ life and the writing of the 'Christmas Carol' story 

Review copyright 2024 Sue's DVD Reviews