Filmmaker
Michael Winterbottom is not afraid to try new methods in his filmmaking
process, even when they often work better in theory than in practice. Whether
jumping back and forth from mainstream Hollywood
cinema to small independents, narrative features to documentaries, or simply
making a movie that controversially utilizes un-simulated sex scenes from his
lead actors, Winterbottom has been a fearless filmmaker willing to take
chances. Everyday is built upon yet
another unique method of filmmaking, which once again proves far more
interesting than the end result.
With an overly
simplistic plot, it is the filmmaking process of Everday which stands out most, highlighting the film’s weaknesses
along with any assets. Filmed over the course of five years with a cast that
includes small children, we are given a realistic portrait of the passage of
time, which is significant with a film about a family dealing with the prison
sentence of its patriarch. Ian (John Simm) is already in the middle of his
prison sentence at the beginning of the film, convicted of drug smuggling. This
isn’t a prison film, however, and we are only privy to the same moments that
his visiting family witness during visitations and release. Instead, we stay
tied to the narrative of the family that Ian has left on the outside, including
his wife Karen (Shirley Henderson) and their four small children who grow over
the course of the film.
This struggle is
realistically portrayed, though not in any unexpected ways. Despite the added
honesty in using children who are related to each other and allowed to grow
over the course of the 90-minute running time, there is cliché predictability
in the issues that Everyday tackles.
Even as the performances feel honest and sincere, particularly from these young
performers, every minimalist plot twist can be predicted long before it occurs.
Very little actually happens, and all of it seems far too fleshed out for a
film that took five years to create. It would seem that somewhere along the
journey a better draft of a screenplay could have been created.
The DVD includes
deleted and extended scenes, none of which do anything but prolong the
inevitable conclusion that the film was dead-set on reaching. 90 minutes
somehow manages to feel too long and not long enough at the same time, and it
is clear that leaving this extra footage would have done little to change this
result. There is also a trailer.
Entertainment Value:
4/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6.5/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
Special Features: 4/10
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