Review: Mister Foe (Hallam Foe)
Scottish Film Tries to Blend Emotional Reality with Just Plain Weird
Mar 27, 2009
There is a lot going on in Mister Foe. The Scottish film, based on the novel Hallam Foe by Peter Jinks, is a family drama, a coming-of-age tale, and, above all, a very unconventional love story. Director David Mackenzie brings all of the film’s stories, each simmering with deep emotion, together in a way that is more or less engaging but perhaps not satisfying for those unwilling to see past the unlikelihood of it all.
The basic premise is that a 17-year old named Hallam Foe (Jamie Bell, of Billy Elliot fame) cannot cope with his mother’s death. He accuses his new step-mother, Verity, of murdering his mom so that she could wickedly get close to the teenager’s father. After confronting Verity, Hallam runs away to the city and gets a job washing dishes in a hotel, where he works below a woman named Kate (Sophia Myles) who he has an unnatural attraction to.
Protagonist's Creepiness Makes Love Story Less Believable
Nothing out of the ordinary here. What separates this movie from the standard angst-filled teenager in love story is that Hallam is just downright creepy. He’s not desirable in any way – Hallam’s gangly and awkward Crispin Glover-like looks are enough of a turn off, but he also exudes about as much confidence as a sparrow in a cock fight.
That doesn’t make him creepy. What makes him creepy is that, while secretly living in the top of a clock tower, he dons his dead mother’s clothes – dresses, earrings, lipstick – and uses binoculars to spy on the aforementioned woman he desires. Oh, and the woman in question – she looks just like his dead mother. That’s why, after seeing her from afar, he followed her to the hotel in the first place and asked for a job.
This aspect of the story makes it difficult to discern the feelings one might have for Mister Foe. Certainly it is easy to pity him because he has lost someone he loves and does not know how to cope. On the other hand, there is nothing tender about the boy rummaging through the underwear drawer of the woman who bears a striking resemblance to his dead mom.
Nor is there anything touching about the numerous scenes in which Hallam climbs onto the roof of her building to watch her through the skylight as she makes love to another co-worker.
It’s all just – creepy.
This makes it so much more unbelievable that Kate would fall for Hallam, even at one point uttering the words, “I like creepy guys.”
Mister Foe is Missing Something
That’s all well and good, but can viewers really relate to someone of his nature? Probably not. Whether a movie succeeds or fails does not entirely rely on the viewer seeing a part of him or herself in the characters on screen, but certainly the viewer must see the characters as human beings.
Hallam, while confused about so much in life, is certain about one thing – that his step-mother murdered his mom. Yet this certainty is barely touched on over the course of the film. Sure, the climactic scene revolves around this aspect of the story, but it’s not enough. This is the plot that’s grounded in reality, and it’s all but forgotten in the heart of the movie.
It’s an engaging movie, especially in its heart, but it doesn’t quite feel all there, so it’s hard to get right inside the story. Instead, viewers might feel like they’re on the outside with a pair of binoculars looking in.
