My Sailor, My Love, 2022.
Directed by Klaus Härö.
Starring James Cosmo, Brid Brennan, and Catherine Walker.
SYNOPSIS:
A retired sea captain and his daughter must reassess their strained relationship after he begins a new romance with a widowed housekeeper.
James Cosmo has had a fine career both as a leading and supporting actor, starring in the likes of Trainspotting, Braveheart and Highlander and the latest film with Cosmo as a leading man is My Sailor, My Love.
Shot on Achill island off Ireland’s west coast, the film sees cantankerous retired Sea Captain Howard strike up a rapport with Annie (Brid Brennan), a housekeeper hired by his daughter Grace (Catherine Walker) to care for him. Grace has grown weary of her fathers isolated and grumpy nature, often cutting himself off from those around him, although he lights up when telling stories to local youths in the pub. Grace’s own marriage is going through something of a rough patch and so the film is split between the burgeoning relationship between Howard and Annie and Grace’s own life.
We see two sides to Howard throughout, Grace’s perspective stemming from childhood trauma and Annie’s relationship which sees a warmer side to Howard. The film seeks to show how Howard and Grace have dealt with grief and the process of ageing. While Grace’s frustration with her father and his relationship with Annie, Catherine Walker captures her frustration at a number of situations that have befallen her and a constant drive and energy to her performance contrasting Cosmo’s more subdued work and Brennan’s warm performance.
The blossoming relationship between Grace and Howard gives it a sense of warmth and the chemistry between James Cosmo and Brid Brennan makes it wholly believable when there are shortcomings in other areas and helps to keep audiences engaged. The tonal jump between making Howard likable and showing the fractious side of things with Grace can be jarring but for the most part the cast and their chemistry stop this from proving derailing.
In Finnish director Klaus Härö’s English language debut, he shows an understanding of the island community and importance of family ties to it as we cut between Annie and Howard’s families with a particularly awkward Christmas spent at Howard’s home. The clever juxtaposition highlights the breakdown of Howard and Grace’s own relationship.
The cinematography wonderfully captures the islands idyllic and isolated nature and a picturesque community. This also helps show the hole in his family’s life that Howard must have left when at sea, a key subject touched upon throughout.
My Sailor, My Love is an earnest, well made film that captures the quiet life of a rural island. With the focus largely around three characters the performances need to be up to scratch and our three leads are more than up to the task, each bringing a different mood to proceedings and all sharing fine chemistry with one another to make the film stand out amid some of its other flaws.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★
Chris Connor
