273. Head Full Of Honey; movie review
Cert 12A
126 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, moderate sex reference
Crikey, this is a bizarre misrepresentation of what is like to see a family member reduced to nothing by Alzheimer's Disease.
So much so that I found myself stifling screams at the screen.
Head Full Of Honey struck me as a self-indulgent vehicle for Nick Nolte to star alongside his rela-life 11-year-old daughter, Sophie Lane.
Nolte is 77 and plays Lane's grandfather in a movie which is so overflowing with schmaltz I felt myself beginning to barf.
Incredibly, she seems to be taking the lead in looking after a man who is losing his mind.
What has happened to the responsible adults, namely her parents?
Good question. They are immersed in their own priorities, leaving incapable old fella and idealistic but impractical young girl to their own devices.
This beggars belief all the more because the adults (Matt Dillon and Emily Mortimer) are high-flyers who are portrayed as both very bright and rich.
Given their intelligence, they would surely concentrate on a solution for Nolte's character rather than have him embarrass himself or nearly burn the house down?
Anyway, both Dillon and Mortimer's characters become sideline irritants to the central relationship which is warm but unconvincing.
There has been much debate about why this remake of German film Honig Im Kopf has flopped so badly when it was such a hit in Germany.
Til Schweiger, who directed the original is back again so it would have been thought he was a safe guiding hand.
But there are sharp differences in German humour and that of either Americans or the British.
I haven't had the benefit of watching Honig Im Kopf but it surely can't have been quite as cumbersome both in dialogue and resolution.
Regardless, Alzheimer's is a really poor subject for comedy. While it may be true that those of us who have had relatives who have suffered this ghastly condition may have moments of black humour it tends to be a mask for the horrors we see.
This film presents a relationship which could not happen because Alzheimer's doesn't just present itself at convenient times.
It is not only nonsense but it is hurtful to those whose lives have been wrecked by it.
Reasons to avoid: It really isn't a very clever representation of Alzheimer's Disease
Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 3.5/10
Did you know? More than 16 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer's or other dementias.
The final word. Nick Nolte: "Til kept the movie on the entertainment side — a buddy film — to keep the action going forward. Otherwise I think the disease is too bad. Dementia is too rough to give it full-blown to an audience. If you don’t have the humor in it, it’s gonna be rough.” AARP
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