Before You Go Review

Three sisters return home for their mother's funeral with all the expected bust-ups and bouts of forgiveness.

by Alan Morrison |
Published on
Release Date:

01 Jun 2002

Running Time:

95 minutes

Certificate:

15

Original Title:

Before You Go

It begins with a shot of a dead old woman, and if possible, gets even less lively from there on.

As the story of three sisters (Walters, Hamilton and Whalley) returning home for their mother's funeral drags on, with all the expected bust-ups and bouts of forgiveness, Gilbert is unable to create any sense of flow between scenes. There's also no consistency between the performances, as Hamilton, playing the twitchy youngest sister, over-acts horribly alongside the more laid-back turns of John Hannah and Tom Wilkinson.

Surprisingly, it's Whalley who emerges as the star of the piece with the film's only credible female performance.

Even a few laughlines around the crinkly face of the script, can't stop Before You Go from showcasing the British film industry at its worst - dull, pointless and shackled to the past.
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