Certificate: 12A (domestic abuse, upsetting scenes). Running Time: 102 mins. UK Distributor: Signature Entertainment
WHO’S IN IT?
James Cosmo, Bríd Brennan, Catherine Walker, Nora-Jane Noone, Aidan O’Hare, Bob Kelly, Nova Farrelly, Molly McCann, Ciara Fallon, Shane McCarthy, Shane G. Casey, Tara Flynn, Tim Landers, Ciara McKeown
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Klaus Härö (director), Jimmy Karlsson and Kirsi Vikman (writers), Kaarle Aho, David Collins and Kai Nordberg (producers), Michelino Bisceglia (composer), Robert Nordström (cinematographer), Philippe Ravoet (editor)
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
A retired sea captain (Cosmo) develops a strong bond with his new caretaker (Brennan)…
WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON MY SAILOR, MY LOVE?
A romantic drama about two elderly and, in their own unique ways, flawed strangers finding love with one another – on the surface, My Sailor, My Love certainly sounds like yet another entry in the heartstring-tugging library of cheesy Nicholas Sparks stories. However, Finnish director Klaus Härö (here making his English-language debut) and fellow Scandinavian writers Jimmy Karlsson and Kirsi Vikman manage to dig a bit deeper than all the typical gooey-eyed romance, and instead find a much more emotionally resonant drama that explores some fresher corners of what it is to be a curmudgeon in love.
Said curmudgeon is Howard (James Cosmo), a retired sea captain who lives alone in his house by the Irish coast. He only has his adult daughter Grace (Catherine Walker) to regularly visit and care for him, but Howard is deeply reluctant to accept any help from her, so you can imagine he’s not too pleased when she hires local woman Annie (Bríd Brennan) to serve as his housekeeper and clean up his reclusive existence. However, it doesn’t take long for both Howard and Annie to develop genuine feelings for one another, and they just as quickly make plans to cement their newfound relationship – much to the bitter jealousy of Grace who, after a traumatic childhood where he effectively left her and her clinically-depressed mother alone while he was out at sea, and has since endured a lifetime of resentment and cruel neglect from her own father, begins to react nastily while her own life begins to fall apart.
Where Härö’s film is most effective is with how it shows the psychological fallout between father and daughter, especially as the former proceeds to push the latter aside to make room for his new love and her own extended family. The character of Grace could easily have been both written and performed as this very one-dimensional villain who allows their jealousy and bitterness to get the better of her own judgement, but writers Karlsson and Vikman, and to an extent actor Catherine Walker, know better than to leave a character like this as a mere antagonist. We spend a lot of time with her as she tries her hardest to care for everyone around her, from her resentful father to her growingly estranged husband, only to reap very few of the personal benefits, if any at all, and so her later outbursts and attempts to drive a wedge between the two lead romantics feels like a natural reaction to all the neglect she’s had to face up to this point. Walker’s complex portrayal adds greater depths to her character, with a tinge of sadness being apparent in each clench of her envious jaw, an expression which the actor keeps at a constant distance without drawing too much attention to her inner thoughts. It is, in a way, its own romantic tragedy, this one being between Cosmo’s Howard and the deeply traumatised daughter who just wants the kind of love he’s giving to his new lady-friend.
Speaking of, the central romance between James Cosmo and Bríd Brennan is relatively charming to watch unfold, even as more is revealed about the former that makes you think twice about his ultimate moral compass. The two actors – Scottish and Irish thespians, respectively – share plenty of tender scenes with each other, easily overcoming many of the sappier romance conventions that could have steered things into overly sentimental territory throughout, but here are pleasantly spaced out by writers Karlsson and Vikman who allow them to feel like believable people before just being paired with one another on the screen. Cosmo and Brennan, along with Walker’s outstanding supporting performance, bring a sense of life to this story, so that when the film does eventually make its way into an emotional and pleasantly underplayed climax, it’s effective enough for you to also perhaps shed a tear by the end.
That isn’t to say, though, that My Sailor, My Love is entirely free of dramatic contrivance and the odd bit of emotional manipulation – for example, a main character suffers no fewer than three major health scares throughout, and each time it is played like a scene from The Whale – but Härö has a steady enough hand to steer even those parts from slipping too much into, once again, Nicholas Sparks territory. Instead, he takes the time to explore the deeper psychological consequences of a fallout between father and daughter, presenting a much sadder and three-dimensional portrayal of old-age love that few similar movies dare to get into. It’s a very interesting take that is certainly romantic in the necessary parts, but equally as upsetting and poignant as it shows two romance stories taking place simultaneously: the more straightforward one between two elderly lost souls, and a daughter who just wants her father’s love.
SO, TO SUM UP…
My Sailor, My Love is an effective romantic drama that features a charming and pleasant central romance between James Cosmo and Bríd Brennan, but is equally if not more resonant as a tragic story of a neglected daughter, played outstandingly by Catherine Walker, reacting to a love that she was never shown.
My Sailor, My Love is now showing in cinemas nationwide –click here to find a screening near you!
