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On Chesil Beach
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On Chesil Beach
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- 2017
- Dominic Cooke
- 105 mins
- 15
Summary
Romantic drama starring Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle. In the early 1960s, a young couple meet, fall in love and marry. However, on their honeymoon a series of unspoken personal issues threatens to ruin their life together.
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Review
A star rating of 3 out of 5.
Damon Wise
Ian McEwan's 2007 novella is the basis for this well-acted but curiously overstretched period drama, set in the grim, grey Britain of Philip Larkin's nightmares. The year is 1962, and newlyweds Florence (Saoirse Ronan) and Edward (Billy Howle) have checked into a "posh" Dorset hotel that has clearly seen better days. The honeymoon meal is excruciating enough, served by two inept, tip-seeking waiters, but the couple's fumbling attempts to get intimate take the relationship to breaking point. In between, director Dominic Cooke refers back to the various high points of the couple's courtship, all of which sketch in valuable details in each lover's back story - she comes from money, he from the sticks; she plays in a string quartet, he likes the blues. Such character notes are light and sensitive, notably when Florence endears herself to Edward's brain-damaged mother. But after the fireworks ignite, the film still has a way to go, muddling to a curious, pat ending that raises more questions than it answers.
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6.3/10
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Credits
Cast
rolenameFlorence PontingSaoirse RonanEdward MayhewBilly HowleMarjorie MayhewAnne-Marie DuffLionel MayhewAdrian ScarboroughViolet PontingEmily WatsonGeoffrey PontingSamuel WestRuth PontingBebe CaveTedOliver JohnstoneBobPhilip LabeyPhilJonjo O'Neill
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Crew
rolenameDirectorDominic Cooke
Details
Theatrical distributor
Lionsgate
Released on
2018-05-18
Languages
English
Guidance
sex scenes, nudity
Available on
DVD and Blu-ray
Formats
Colour
News & features about On Chesil Beach
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This poster of Saoirse Ronan in On Chesil Beach looks very familiar
The adaptation of Ian McEwan's 2007 novel also stars Emily Watson, Anne-Marie Duff and Billy Howle
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Billy Howle explains how he and Saoirse Ronan prepared for key bedroom scene in On Chesil Beach
The excruciating scene is at the heart of the film by Ian McEwan, but both actors were keen not to become overwhelmed by the "awkward" atmosphere
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"I saw a thousand ways of getting it wrong": Ian McEwan talks the troubles of filming THAT On Chesil Beach scene
The novelist also explains why he didn't want anyone else adapting his book for the big screen, and why Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle are perfectly suited to star
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Saoirse Ronan to star in adaptation of Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach
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