Sunday, 30 June 2013

Old Stock - for when life gets tough

Old Stock is a gentle and wryly amusing film following a young man, Stock …, who has moved into his grandfather’s retirement home, and retired from life, following his involvement in a serious accident.  Although the film isn't going to change the world, it starts from a nice different idea and plays it out well, tackling ideas around guilt and the choices people make to engage with life and the people around them in an engaging manner. 

The film isn't necessarily told in the most original way, and is largely what you’d expect from a quirky indie, but it is still very enjoyable, with really good central performances and some good, funny, set pieces and ideas.  The central conceit of such a young man happy to have retired from life may not be the most credible or believable if the film didn't handle it so well, setting it within the character’s emotional decision making rather than his whole character and making it a hook for the story rather than the driver.  Using this as a jumping off point rather than the framework for the film is one of the things the film does well as it leaves more room for the stories to shine.

The visuals are nicely done, and it gives a sense of a town not much less sleepy than the retirement home itself.  The relationships between the characters are believable and feel like they are genuinely developing rather than forced in a certain way to drive other aspects of the plot. 


 These are characters that it is interesting to spend an hour and a half with and a film with handles its amusing and heartfelt tone well, so even though not life changing, it’s an enjoyable, very funny, and warm-hearted film.

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