George Falconer (Colin Firth) is a 52-year-old British college professor struggling to find meaning to his life after the death of his long time partner, Jim (Matthew Goode). George dwells on the past and cannot see his future as we follow him through a single day, where a series of events and encounters ultimately leads him to decide if there is a meaning to life after Jim. George is consoled by his closest friend, Charley (Julianne Moore), a 48-year-old-beauty who is wrestling with her own questions about the future. A young student of George's, Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), who is coming to terms with his true nature, stalks George as he feels in him a kindred spirit.
Naive as this is going to sound, I thought that this movie would have been simpler than it ended up being. I thought it would be about one man's journey through his twofold pain: his grief over the death of his lover compounded by the fact that, it being the 60s, he has no outlet to grieve properly or healthily. Mea culpa. All the characters are very well written (especially Jennifer, Mrs. Strunk's 9-year old daughter, strangely enough). This is a film that lives steadfastly in the realm of subtlety at the expense of plot advancement. I quite enjoyed seeing the way other characters interact with George, especially his ex-girlfriend Charley who completely misunderstands the nature of his rela
Excellent, moving movie about love, happiness and the precious thing we call life. Firth is amazing.