First Take: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - a long walk on to mediocrity

SYNOPSIS: Harold is an ordinary man who has passed through life, living on the side lines, until he goes to post a letter one day…and just keeps walking.

This is the biggest investment the BFI put into a film coming out of the Covid lockdowns in 2021 - you would expect a film to carry that label would be nice, heartwarming and relaxing. But the trailers and PR don’t tell the full story, this is not an easy film to watch at all, for a myriad of reasons - mostly on the production side of things.

Hettie Macdonald takes up the directors chair for the first time since she worked on the series that defined the lockdown (BBC Three’s Normal People), and it is obvious the long form TV series is more her style - this is paced quite weirdly for a 1 hour 48 minute film, and a key reason why it struggles is sadly the script. Rachel Joyce - a first time screenwriter - adapts her debut book from 2012, and, well, it isn’t written well. Yes, there are moments of promise, but the stop/start nature of the plot just doesn’t work at this length - it is just too long for its own good, and could’ve been done in 90 minutes. It’s shot admirably by Kate McCullough, and Ilan Eshkheri’s score just about does the job.

Where this film is saved is the performances - you have an emotional core of Jim Broadbent (who actually narrated the audiobook of this one too) and Penelope Wilton carrying this film as the walk progresses, and in Broadbent’s case, he is fully committed to this role as he is with any role he takes. Supporting them are Daniel Frogson, Joseph Mydell, Linda Bassett and many others who pop up as the epic journey from Kingsbridge to Berwick-upon-Tweed progresses. It’s certainly not the greatest story I’ve seen about a marathon walk but the work of Broadbent on its own is enough to save this film from getting the full rant treatment.

THE VERDICT

This is far from the heart warming, light hearted tale the trailers make it out to be - with pacing issues, a messy script but mercifully two great lead performances, it is safe to say that this pilgrimage will gain some followers before it inevitably gets buried by some galaxy guardians or whatever they’re called.

RATING: 2.5/5