'Sometimes Always Never (2019)' is a bit of an oddity, I suppose, because of its combination of mundanity and quirkiness. It tells a grounded - though, ever-so-slightly absurdist - story with a real emotional weight to it, often with genuine subtlety but more frequently with a strange sort of passivity, and tends to toe the line between comedy and drama to the point that a distinction between the two isn't really worth making. It's not like it's particularly unfocused or haphazard, however, as it certainly feels calculated. Yet, even in its almost articulated unwillingness to conform to convention, there's a sort of intangible sense that it doesn't quite know how odd it is. It's exactly what it wants, and needs, to be. As you can tell, it's a fairly difficult experience to categorise. All in all, though, it's an enjoyable one. It has a compelling central theme and a nice set of main characters, even if the former isn't fleshed out as much as you'd like thanks to a somewhat baggy mid-section. The tone of the thing also fluctuates a little. Usually, it balances the serious with the silly, making sure that both do a decent job of developing character, but there are some moments that make you wish the movie would make its mind up as to whether or not its world is actually 'heightened' (which could be pushed further, if that is the case). It sometimes sounds overly 'written', too; this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the sequences where you actually notice the writing pale in comparison to the ones where you don't. I'll also say that, while it's well directed overall, there are some visual stylistic choices that I don't think pay off. Of course, these issues don't prevent the flick from being generally entertaining. It's somewhat endearing, with great performances and (from what came through in the final result) a good screenplay. It's not perfect, or indeed overly satisfying, and its odd tone - or general 'status', I guess - does make it a bit difficult to get a handle on. Still, it's a good effort that nicely tells a personal, rather unique story. 6/10
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Irena_Spa19 November 2019It is a joy to watch it. First, because of its style of shooting and second, because of its clear and rich colors. It looks as an brilliant school of art, designed precisely. On the other hand it is a good story, done in some traditional and emotional way, and who is playing in. Bill Nighy is as always excellent, elegant and charming.
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peeedeee-9428116 October 2019Just to address the marmite topic brought up by another reviewer: It was illustrated in the film that Billy Nighy's character Alan was not a reliable story teller. He liked to tell tall tales, like the one about the grandmother with the coal seam in the basement. Going back to the movie, I thought it was quirky like everyone mentioned. I knew it wasn't going to be a straight forward dramedy based on the bizarre, artificial riding in car scenes. It looked like it was done in a 1950s B movie style. Thankfully the movie dials back on that and delivers a fairly straight forward, drama comedy framed around the game of scrabble, but really about Alan and his son Peter, as they try to solve the mystery of the missing son Michael. The body viewing scene (which we don't see) was particularly odd, because we were told that Michael went missing many many years ago when he and Peter were still children. So why would they be called to identify a body? If it was an adult's body, how would they know it was him. Usually they do DNA tests anyway. Other than that weird start, and some scene involving a boat (or did it?), much of the movie follows a fairly linear format. I think it helps that every character in the movie had something to offer the movie, and generally everyone was likeable. You kind of hoped there would be a resolution of the 'mystery', but ultimately it didn't really matter. Nothing is really 'solved' by the ending, except maybe Peter wasn't as resentful of his missing brother's 'Prodigal Son' stature, and maybe Alan realized it was time to focus on his existing family.
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Gordon-1111 April 2020Despite the rather grim topic, the film manages not to be overly sad. In fact it is an enjoyable journey of a father who becomes obsessed with scrabble in order to cope with his loss. It is a good psychological portrayal pf grief.
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crumpytv6 January 2022A very surreal looking film. Interesting colours and tones and deliberate filming car scenes over a filmed background.
In essence it is about relationships and long-term grief ... and scrabble.
It is worth a watch. -
claremills-6064423 July 2019If it wasn't for the presence of mobile phones and computer games you'd think that this was set in the 60's ! Bill Nighy is sparsely twinkly, just enough to make me stay in my seat for the entire film. A good cast, an intriguing storyline, almost a period piece. I think Bill must have it in his contract for every piece he does to wear a good coat. (Apart from Dads Army).
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evanston_dad10 November 2020I may never stop getting this film's title confused with another movie that also came out this year, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always."
"Sometimes Always Never" is a quirky and mostly forgettable little film, but it's anchored by a strong performance by Bill Nighy, as a dad on a meandering quest to track down a grown son who's gone missing. The film gives off Wes Anderson vibes, albeit much more subdued and melancholy ones. The production design gives the film some visual interest and a certain sense of style. It's one of those movies that I thoroughly enjoyed while in the middle of and can barely remember after having seen it, which is I guess my review of it in a nutshell. It does manage to build toward a modestly effective emotional pay off, I remember that much. For that reason, though it's not likely to blow your mind, the film also doesn't feel like a waste of time.
Grade: B+ -
I so wanted to love this film. All the right ingredients but none of the pathos required to draw me in. Every time I got close to feeling something the film flashed up another Wes Anderson-esque quirk-with none of the meaning that so cleverly underpins his work-and made me feel like I was a spectator. Great ideas suffered from a flat execution.
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A single delicious narrative conceit drives the delightful Sometimes. Always. Never. (2018). It takes its own sweet time getting there, but when it does, it hits home: you can be an expert in words and their rules but be incapable of meaningful expression. Add a Scrabble obsession, mix it with deep grief and guilt, and you have a portrait of a family desperately unable to communicate with each other.
The simplicity of the plotline stands in stark contrast to the complexity of its themes. Dapper rule-bound tailor Alan (Bill Nighy) is told that the body of his long-missing son Michael may have been found. He takes his younger estranged son Peter (Sam Riley) with him to identify the body, and at the morgue they meet other parents who are there for the same reason. It's a diversion that does little to advance the narrative, but it does provide comic respite from the pain of loss. Both relieved and disappointed with the outcome, Alan invites himself to stay with Peter and his family in the hope of reconciliation.
With a threadbare plot, the power of this film comes from its theatrical settings, intelligent banter, and Nighy's trademark whimsical mannerisms and stylised performance. The label 'fantasy drama' has been applied to this film but is mis-leading and manifestly inadequate. If there is an element of fantasy, it derives from the way many scenes are played out against backgrounds that are have a surreal, even an absurdist two-dimensional feel that resembles a theatre set. Like all absurdism, there is an artful space between the underlying emotional intensity and the futility of ever trying to understand it. The gravelly Nighy is a master of under-statement, with a unique talent for giving shallow dialogue depth and humour. It's all about contrasts: Alan's obsession with a missing son and neglect of the son he still has; his fastidious Dymo labelling of everything as a substitute for control in his world; and his ability to make light of the heaviest emotions.
If you are not a Nighy fan or prefer action-based stories, you may find little to appreciate in this film. In place of a forward-moving narrative it offers a portrait of a dysfunctional family torn apart over guilt and the inability to emotionally connect. The film's title is itself a parody of form over function, referring to the tailor's rule for how jacket buttons should be fastened: the top always, the middle sometimes, the bottom never. With no substantive relationship to the film's content, it's a rule as good as any on how to live one's life. -
backofthevan12 July 2019I will watch pretty much any film with the wonderful Bill Nighy. Just watched this one and not sure what I think of it. His character, wildly knowledgeable when it comes to Scrabble, was 100% wrong when he stated that Marmite is banned in Canada. No, my friend, it definitely isn't. I have a jar in my own cupboard. I actually had to have a look and confirm that it is, indeed, Marmite, and not the poor substitute Vegemite (which he claimed was the only option for Canadians). Marmite has been available here for at least 10 years and, since the film obviously takes place in the present, he was just plain wrong.
Now I'm thinking that if the availability of Marmite is my lingering thought after seeing this film, how memorable was it? It DOES meander, as others have said. It DOES try awfully hard to be visually quirky to the point of being absurd at times. It does convey somewhat the damage done to people when someone they love goes missing. There's no closure; they spend their lives from that point on grieving, wondering, blaming, searching and, likely, never really having a carefree moment again. That was certainly brought home to me in all its sadness. If you need cheering up, this is not the film for you.
Is this a vitally important film? No. Not even sure why it was made. It's like reading a short story, which is what it was based on, finished in 90 minutes or so and easily forgotten. -
henry8-313 January 2020A man's life is taken up with trying to find his lost son who ran out after a row when playing scrabble, an important game in the the man's life and which he come to believe has links to his son's whereabouts.
Quirky and just a bit weird, this is a likeable, mostly light hearted tale that almost entirely relies on Bill Nighy's particular style of delivery to pull off which it just about does. It is a small, rather unique, stage like creation which is often quite funny to watch with Nighy front and centre throughout the whole piece, but with a fine supporting cast - nice to see Jenny Agutter do an atypical role for a change - and so well.
Not for everyone though. -
nmsos17 March 2019I loved the movie. Bill Nighy is superb in anything he does, the rest of the cast were wonderful. It was written with humour, wittiness with a hint of sadness.
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robcartwright-2603418 April 2020Rather nice film with the great Bill Night.
Some funny parts and pleasant to watch. Story is a little strange and I didn't really understand the ending. -
paulsmart10117 June 2019I rarely dislike films but I found this one painfully awkward and predictable.
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TxMike1 December 2020First off, the catchy title is simply a reference to guidance wearing a 3-button suit coat, sometimes the top button, always the middle button, never the bottom button. The main character is a tailor, he gives the advice to his teen grandson
Bill Nighy is Alan, Scrabble fan with two adult sons, and a teen grandson. One son, Michael, is missing, apparently he got up from a Scrabble game and left, they never heard from him again.
Several times the script references the Biblical prodigal son story, the one son who remained connected feels he isn't getting the love he deserves and all dad cares about is finding the missing son.
The story is a family relationship drama but sprinkled with humor. Bill Nighy makes it a worthwhile movie, all the other characters could have been played by almost anyone. However it was also good to see Jenny Agutter in a small role, she was mid-60s during filming, who could forget her performance in "Walkabout" when she was still a teenager?
I watched this on Amazon streaming movies. -
jeanlesley27 November 2019The flow of the film felt more like a play than a film . It did have a certain amount of charm though . I thought all the actors did a good job .
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Comicfilmnerd19 August 2019The plot of the movie is very hard to follow and requires concentration like a game of scrabble would. But after thinking about the movie for a while, I understood the plot and it all made sense. (It also helped me with a few scrabble pointers.) For the concentration to understand, I give it a 7/10.
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ferguson-611 June 2020Greetings again from the darkness. "That's not a word." "It's a word." Anyone who has ever played Scrabble has both shrieked the phrases and been the target of those same screeches from opponents. Word play is in full effect during the feature film debut of director Carl Hunter (a former British pop star). The script comes from the short story "Triple Word Score" by writer Frank Cotrell Boyce, who also wrote the screenplay for the excellent and underrated MILLIONS (2004).
The basic premise has a father searching for his long-missing oldest son. The son stormed out during a hotly contested family game of Scrabble, so dad thinks he can track him down by playing the game online many hours each day. Bill Nighy plays Alan, the owner of Mellor's Tailor Shop (though he rarely seems to work) and the aforementioned father-on-a-quest. Somewhat annoyed by his father's pursuit, though still supportive as much as possible, is Alan's youngest son Peter (Sam Riley, Mr. Darcy in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES, 2016). Peter refers to himself as "not the Prodigal Son", which is the underlying theme of the story and the father-son relationship.
"Very Quadrophenia" Alan says as he walks by a group of scooter-riding folks. It's just one of the whip-smart lines Bill Nighy sneaks in. Mr. Nighy has always had a unique on screen energy - one that keeps us off-balance yet eager to see where he leads. He's perfectly cast for a film that delicately balances deadpan and offbeat humor with awkward relationships and dark moments. Alan is the type of guy who will Scrabble-hustle (and maybe even cheat) a grieving dad for 200 quid, and then turn around and take his gamer-grandson Jack (Louis Healy) from an anti-social to a quite "spruce" young man capable of flirting with his bus stop fantasy Rachel (Ella-Grace Gregoire, "The Five").
Grief and family dynamics are the core of the story, and the father-son wranglings between Alan and Peter are especially crucial. The film has a somber tone spiced with whimsy to serve up an unusual feel. To go along with that, Production Designer Tim Deckel and Set Decorator David Morison conjure up the visuals we might expect from Wes Anderson or early Tim Burton ... colorful wallpaper and vivid furnishings ... right down to the knick-knacks and even a label-maker. The aesthetic choices by the filmmaker and crew really combine nicely with the performances in a film that may arrive at a predictable ending, but only after a most interesting journey. We do learn what the title means, and it's important not to mix up, confuse, or muddle this one with the recent teen abortion drama, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS. -
There's honestly nothing in the movie story wise. Instead it's a film made like a love letter to the worst parts of Wes Anderson. Angles, gimmicks, kitsch - and repeat and repeat and repeat.
No pacing, no heart and no memorable moments
Very disappointing -
tm-sheehan4 April 2019What a clever quirky little movie that proves when done well the British succeed where other fail.
No plot or spoilers here as it would ruin the movie but all the performances headed by Bill Nighy as Alan are superb. Bill Nighy plays droll eccentric old men better than anyone I can think of I can't imagine anyone else doing justice to this role. The last time I saw Bill Nighy in a movie was The Bookshop and even though it was not the starring role ,he played an almost Dickensian character he stole that movie
The only thing I'll say about the story is that it's about two families,both have suffered loss and both are bought together by the game of Scrabble.
The supporting cast of Sam Riley as Peter Alan's son and Jenny Agutter ,(out of habit as Sister Jullienne) well and truly in this film plays Margaret touchingly and with great humour ,this is a very funny movie ,almost a comedy but with a lot of pathos Tim McInnerny as Margaret 's droll husband is also very good. Also the rest of the cast Alice Lowe ,as Peters wife and Oliver Sindcup as young Peter are very very good.
Frank Cottrell Boyce ,who wrote screenplays for Goodbye Christopher Columbus ,Railway Man,and Hillary and Jackie among other films and television is one of the most respected writers for the British screen and it's easy to understand why.
I don't know much about director the Carl Hunter but if Sometimes Always Never is an example of his directing I hope to see more of his movies.
Don't miss this one. -
How can a movie that has so much wrong with it, be watchable through to the end? Well this is such a film. Deeply flawed on just about every level the film leans heavily on Bill Nighy's screen presene to sustain audience attention. But even Bill needs a strong director and this film has been directed by a 'wannabe auteur' who hasn't even got out of film school diapers. There is not one technical area that he doesn't mangle, while the script misses so much potential. Set in Merseyside we have so few examples of scouser wit to enjoy, and even the voice coach only manages to squeeze a slight scouse accent out of Nighy. Performances all round unanimously lack emotion, some actors look as if they have no idea why they are there and some scenes seem to have been edited in from another production by mistake e.g. the Alexy Sayle scene. YET I was amused at times (especially the Bill and Jenny bathroom scene) and loved a few little bits of whimsy, and I did stay to the end. Am not sure why, but I do believe you have to see weak films to really enjoy the strong ones.
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masonsaul21 February 2020Sometimes Always Never is an incredibly unique drama that's stylized, colourful, very funny and emotional. Bill Nighy and Sam Riley are both amazing and Alice Low is great. Carl Hunter's direction is fantastic and it's well filmed and colourful. The pacing is great and the music by Edwyn Collins and Sean Read is excellent. However, it's brought down slightly by the driving sequences which do look cheap in comparison to everything else.
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Pretty decent british drama/comedy about a scrabble obsessed father looking for his missing son while ignoring the son that didn't go missing. A few funny parts sprinkled along, but otherwise plodding. The strange uses of language could have been played up for more laughs, but maybe that would have been too much.
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harry_tk_yung7 March 2020The title's play of words, while having a specific reference (the "three-button rule" for wearing a three-button suit), may also lead you to think about the word game Scrabble. If you do, you are on the right track. There is one other movie "Snow Cake" (2006) that has one hilarious Scrabble scene. In "Sometime Always Never", Scrabble plays a pivotal role. The protagonist Alan's (Bill Nighy) "prodigal son" Michael walked out in the middle of a game with his father and never returned. His mother soon died, leaving younger son Peter (Sam Riley) in an awkward relationship with their father.
The story starts years later when Peter himself has already become a father, to a teenage son. Scrabble games (with friends and with family), wisely not overused, threads the story. After Alan becomes addicted to online games, a mystery develops as he encounters a player whose playing style and word usage is suspiciously like Michael's.
I mentioned "Snow Cake". An absolutely first-class movie with Sigourney Weaver's brilliant portrayal of an autistic woman, among other things. "Sometime Always Never", while not quite reaching that level of complexity and depth, is itself a little gem. Delightfully minimalist, it revolves around a family that you can easily root for - father and son having difficulties communicating but love clearly palpable, slightly eccentric yet very likeable wife (a chemist who floods the Scrabble board with chemical terms), totally normal and cheerful teenager with a sweet, pleasant girlfriend. A perfect picture of blissful domesticity that is shadowed by the history of the disappearance of one of its members.
The two leads are such joy to watch, particularly Nighy. It is hard to think of anyone who can do this better. Oh, maybe one. Alan Arkin (think "The Kominski method").