113. You Were Never Really Here; movie review

YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
Cert 15
90 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong violence, injury detail, child sex abuse theme, language

You were never really here? Well, I wish I hadn't been.
Second up on Saturday evening's double bill was Lynne Ramsay's perplexing vehicle for Joaquin Phoenix.
Ramsay's film flits from close-ups to close-up (I feel like I know Phoenix's luxuriant beard intimately) to violent flashbacks in an attempt to lure its audience.
But I just became confused and the more I tried to unravel what was happening before us, the more my eyes sagged.
Phoenix is the greatest screen mumbler since Marlon Brando. Ok, it might be that his character, Joe, tries to work in the shadows, but the audience really does need to know what he is saying.
I managed to deduce was that he is kind to his mum (Judith Roberts), unkind to bad guys, whom he smashes over the head with a hammer, and caring towards children because of his own disturbed childhood.
Joe is a hitman of sorts - accepting jobs which involve him beating in the heads and faces of his targets.
Meanwhile, as he aids his ailing elderly mother, he keeps reverting back to a childhood in which his head is in a plastic bag.
The problem with You Were Never Really Here is that it doesn't seek to explain any of what is happening.
For example, how did Joe become so damaged, why does he want to be invisible and why does he seem to enjoy violence?
And how does the child abuse theme dovetail with his search for a young girl (Ekaterina Samsonov)?
The answers to these basic questions are avoided while Ramsay concentrates on the style of her movie and the unkemptness of Phoenix's facial hair.
The latter is probably all I will remember of her film. Mrs W was not quite as condemnatory but equally baffled.

Reasons to watch: If you enjoy Joaquin Phoenix's mumbling style
Reasons to avoid: Confusing and too close

Laughs: None
Jumps: One
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 4/10

Director quote - Lynne Ramsay (on Joaquin Phoenix: "He is just an astonishing person in so many ways and in terms of how sharp he is."

The big question - Would it be possible to plait Joaquin Phoenix's beard?

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