Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: During World War I, two soldiers show up to do surveying in a coal town in Wales, and find themselves the center of a controversey about the size of the geography around the town.
Biased, pithy comments: I almost didn't see this film. It looked painful and formulaic---another romance capitalizing on Grant's success in ``Four Weddings and a Funeral.'' But the years went by and I found myself checking it out of the library (hey, it's free) for a ``date night'' with the ol' ball and chain. Lo and behold, this wasn't the grindingly predictable romance I thought it was. Oh, sure, it was still grindingly predictable, but the romance isn't the point---what struck you instead was the spirit of the town, the battle between the righteous and the athiest, the quiet Welsh humor, and the long dark shadow cast by the Great War even in this pastoral idyll. Perhaps a small story given an ungainly title, but nonetheless a quiet, interesting film.
Other Notes: Is it a true tale? Sort of---this is a movie based on a novel which is based on a popular local tale which was based on some real events. Thus, something like this sort of happened.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Hugh Grant, Tara Fitzgerald, Colm Meaney, Ian McNeice, Ian Hart
Directed by: Christopher Monger