My Policeman
In the late 1990s, the arrival of elderly invalid Patrick into Marion and Tom’s home triggers the exploration of seismic events from 40 years previous: the passionate relationship between Tom and Patrick at a time when homosexuality was illegal.
- Released:
- Runtime: 120 minutes
- Genre: Drama, Romance
- Stars: Emma Corrin, Harry Styles, David Dawson, Linus Roache, Gina McKee, Rupert Everett, Dora Davis, Kadiff Kirwan, Andrew Tiernan, Jack Bandeira, Tristan Sturrock, Richard Dempsey, Maddie Rice, Róisín Monaghan, Pierre Bergman, Paul Candelent, Sarah Lockett, Ian Drysdale, Joseph Potter, Harry Attwell, James Hare, James Hare-Cole, Richard Cant
- Director: Michael Grandage
Comments
- proud_luddite - 13 March 2024
Very good
Based on the novel by Bethan Roberts, the film takes place in two time periods: in the late 1950s, Patrick (David Dawson) is a museum creator in Brighton, England. He has a secret relationship with Tom (Harry Styles), a police officer who worries about losing his job if his homosexuality is known. Tom becomes engaged to teacher Marion (Emma Corrin) and the three become close friends... for a while. In the late 1990s, the same characters are played by Rupert Everett, Linus Roache, and Gina McKee respectively.
All six actors in both time frames do a great job and the film is directed with compassion by Michael Grandage.
In addition to the main stories, the story inadvertently focuses on what appears to be a contrast between two different planets: life in Britain for gay people in the 1950s vs. The 1990s. This is highlighted in a scene when Roache is at his best when Tom witnesses open affection between a gay male couple in public during the later time frame.
The film might have been more fulfilling if there were more explored about Marion's character in both time frames. There is also a scene in the 1950s when a secondary character comes out of the closet. The scene seems anachronistic as such information could not likely be revealed so casually during that time period without the fear of losing one's livelihood . But despite these misgivings, "My Policeman" is a very moving film. - dbamateurcritic. - wjffdw - 13 August 2023
beautiful, heart wrenching film
I never write reviews but the first time i watched this was for harry styles but i had no idea what i got my self into. This story is about love that can never be together. And all the lost time that's been wasted, and to finally see it towards the end... absolutely kills me. Patrick crying at the end with toms hand just how he did it in the beginning is so sad but heartwarming to see. I've SOBBED twice watching this movie. The details were perfect and the emotion was there. I obviously didn't care for the wife and her ending but she had an important role so that we can have a story but she will make you mad. But besides that i loved it. If you need a movie that'll make you cry THIS IS THE ONE. - cruise01 - 28 February 2023
Tedious romantic story that has no impact.
1 out of 5 stars.
My Policeman is a horrible romantic drama film that fails to have an emotional connection. The films script and direction is dull. The story is a love triangle about Harry Styles in love with a woman and gets married. While falling for a man. Its a tedious love triangle.
The performances are dull. The cast is forgettable. The film goes nowhere with the characters going back and forth. And while the characters are struggling with hiding there secrets. It is trying to be a sad love story but lacks the depth of building any emotional connection. Overall, it is one horrible and forgettable film. - MOscarbradley - 26 December 2022
A genuine and very pleasant surprise.
Despite the negative reviews, mostly directed at Harry Styles, this tale of a romantic triangle, past and present, is surprisingly good and makes for a welcome addition to LGBTQ cinema. True, Styles is the weakest link but the rest of the cast, (Linus Roache as the older version of Styles' character Tom, Emma Corrin as Marion, the girl he marries, Gina McKee as the older Marion and David Dawson and Rupert Everett as both versions of Patrick, the man Tom falls in love with), are all fine and the idea of telling story in two halves, the first set in the late fifties when homosexuality was illegal in the UK and the other in the late nineties, actually works.
Indeed this is a highly intelligent picture that isn't afraid to look back at that period in gay history that saw so many lives destroyed by discriminatory and unjust laws and hopefully the casting of Styles in a major role will attract the kind of audience who would otherwise avoid a film like this like the plague and if Styles isn't much of an actor surely he deserves kudos for doing the film in the first place. - davidallenxyz - 5 December 2022
Joyless
I haven't read the book so I can't make a comparison. But what I can say is that this is a bad film.
There simply isn't any area in which it succeeds.. Even the moments where it almost manages to develop a character or some visual style are swiftly undermined.
You have to start with the star attraction. Harry Styles. He's a fantastic pop star. He's an awful actor. His flat intonation and unidentifiable accent turns every line into lead. His physicality is robotic. When he digs deep for emotion he's like a petulant child. It's hard not to laugh, basically, which isn't helpful when he is supposed to be playing some kind of tormented tragic hero.
Emma Corrin as the betrayed wife starts off very poorly - an American idea of what a young British woman of the era should sound like. There is a phase in the middle where she starts to find her voice, which is perhaps the strongest part of the film, but the rug is pulled from beneath her in the interests of allowing modern morality to succeed in the face of conventional 50s morality.
David Dawson's Patrick is snooty and manipulative. Thoroughly unlikeable but also portrayed as some kind of tragic hero.
The less said about the older cast the better. Gina McKee has the energy of a corpse, Rupert Everett is more or less playing a corpse, and Linus Roache has little to do aside from look wistfully into the distance.
There is nothing revelatory about what happens in the 50s scenes. Yes, being gay meant you would face a difficult, secretive life. The audience knows this already. The most interesting story would be the one in the 40 years between the original affair and the modern scenes. But nothing is mentioned about that. You're left with more questions than answers.
I can't help but draw a comparison with The Imitation Game. A story from a similar era about a gay man at odds with society's rules. But a film that is a massive success because it has a much better plot and a much better cast. A film where you actually care. My Policeman is none of these things. - biswadeb_das - 27 November 2022
Highly Recommended
The movie has been shot very well with focus on the emotions! It clearly shows how life takes a full circle.
Each person here is fighting for their share of love and to be acknowledged. The time across the decades is so well reflected.
The scenes are so beautifully shot. Harry Styles playing the lead role and has come a long way as an actor.
To blindly compare it to brokeback mountain and call me by your name is not fair. Just because it deals with a gay topic doesn't mean they are all the same.
I would highly recommend everyone to watch the movie as it shows a realistic picture of the huge contrast over the public scenario and acceptance of a relationship over the decades. - mrashtastic89 - 18 November 2022
Criminally dull
Harry Styles being an actor is sure working in an interesting way, first with Don't Worry Darling and now this, let's get one thing straight, he is not a bad actor, his acting in this film is the exact caliber it was in Don't Worry Darling, not bad but sometimes quite questionable.
But this movie suffered from even more than that, if you paid me $100 to recall the plot, I wouldn't be able to do it, this almost 2 hour film has one of the most boring and forgettable plots of any streaming original this year, yes, even more than Windfall and Luckiest Girl Alive.
The love triangle was phoned in and I could not by the romance at all, pretty much the only thing that saved this from a 3 star rating is the heartbreaking final shot and the brilliant musical score.
D+
