A Long Way Down

Based on the novel by Nick Hornby, this lacklustre black comedy centres on four suicidal Londoners: Pierce Brosnan plays a disgraced TV presenter, Imogen Poots an unstable politician's daughter, Toni Collette an exhausted mum caring for her disabled son and Aaron Paul (of TV's Breaking Bad) a failed musician. One fateful New Year's Eve they all decide to jump from the same tower block, but implausibly strapped for space, they decide to hold off taking the plunge until after Valentine's Day. In the meantime, they bond, and director Pascal Chaumeil (who scored a hit with French romantic comedy Heartbreaker) delves into their back stories. It's a pointless exercise, as you may find yourself wishing this depressed - and depressing - bunch had put an end to things six weeks earlier. Though it boasts a classy line-up (Rosamund Pike and Sam Neill also appear), Chaumeil takes the wrong approach, delivering a film that is overplayed, contrived, manipulative - and unfunny.