99. The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things; movie review

 

 

THE MAP OF TINY PERFECT THINGS

Cert 12

100 mins

BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language

Sometimes I wonder at the value of watching and reviewing films which are not aimed at my demographic.

To be fair, I was never going to be synched into The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things because I haven't been a teenager for nearly 40 years.

Therefore, I don't have a sense of nervous excitement over what my future will hold - unless we are talking about retirement!

However, the blog is called everyfilm for a reason so, for completeness sake, I shall give my opinion on 2021's version of Groundhog Day.

Intriguingly, the Bill Murray classic is mentioned several times during Ian Samuels' movie but that was funny and this is much more sentimental with a main character who is submerged in self-pity.

Kyle Allen plays Mark, a promising artist whose day begins with his mum leaving for work followed by tetchiness with his sister (Cleo Fraser) over breakfast and then a sequence of events which, no matter what he does, repeat themselves 24 hours later.

He believes he is alone in being aware of the loop until he alights upon Margaret (Kathryn Newton) who is much more relaxed over this mind-numbing repetition.

And guess what? He falls in love with her at first sight.

So, the remainder of the movie is focused on ways that he can lure her into reciprocating her feelings.

The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things touches on many of the regular teenage issues such as family relationships, school, deciding on future plans etc.

It also throws in a fair few quirky moments, borne out of people repeating the same actions on the time loop.

Meanwhile, there are dabs of pathos engendered by the pair being forced to see life's bigger picture.

But its key focus is on whether Mark can get a girl who doesn't seem so keen and, consequently, it goes over the same ground as almost every teenage romance before an inevitable ending.

In other words, it tries to be different but fails.

Reasons to watch: If you are into teenage slushy romance

Reasons to avoid: You watch the same day over and over

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 4/10

Did you know?  Kyle Allen trained as a classical ballet dancer for five years at the Kirov Academy of Ballet and also practised acrobatics for six years. He was previously a dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. 

The final word. Kathryn Newton: "I really wanted to crack Margaret. I was intrigued by this girl who didn’t want to move on. I wanted to know why she is the way she is. I wanted to create a character that everyone could understand because I think I’m Margaret; I think everyone has felt like that in their life growing up."

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