Bonus Track (2024)

They call it a talent show – it’s actually much more than that. 2006 in a small West Yorkshire town. Sixteen-year old secondary schoolgoer George Bobbin (Joe Anders) is a social outcast but he believes he is destined to be a famous musician even if his classroom efforts are abysmal. His parents Jeffrey (Jack Davenport) and Julia (Alison Sudol) are alternately dismayed (him) and supportive (her) when they go to a parent-teacher evening at St Sebastian’s and are informed just how poorly he is faring at his work. When a famous pop duo’s divorce is announced on the radio it turns out the couple’s son Max Marvin (Samuel Small) is the new student at school due to a change in his mother’s circumstances, according to the headmistress (Nina Wadia.) Max befriends George mainly for maths tutoring despite his lack of standing among their peers especially Molly (Elle McCloskey) who boasts unfathomable power over her mates and she makes a beeline for Max who tolerates her overtures. When Max hears the music track George played in class to the horror of pompous teacher Mr Zeppelin (Ray Panthaki) he adds to the melody and sings along. George’s grades are hopeless considering he dreams of music school and thinks winning the Leavers’ Talent Contest will be the making of him as long as Max helps out. He has feelings for Max but doesn’t know how to deal with them. On a school trip a photographer catches the boys experimenting with their first kiss and when he asks George for a comment the next day to stop a fake story about his use of illicit drugs the photo is front page news. The story blows up and Max decides to go back to his pop star dad (Colin Salmon) in London … My tapes are like a journal. But they’re also a fantasy. This gay dramedy about teens arose from an idea by the screenwriter Mike Gilbert and actor Josh O’Connor who also serves as one of the film’s executive producers. Divided into eight sections (with a titular bonus track) named after some of the best Noughties music, the ungainly protagonist is like a lot of teenagers – uncommunicative, unattractive and unlikeable. It takes quite a while for his character to evolve and that’s aside from his burgeoning homosexuality. The high school romcom tropes as well as the mismatched parents undergoing their own experiments including separation come thick and fast – and Sudol simply doesn’t ring true as George’s mother: why would his getting an earring or piercing be remotely a problem given she has a ring in her nose? This tonal oddity suffers from unsurprising writing, odd casting, bad acting (from the adult cohort) and weak directing. O’Connor’s brief appearance as a tattooist raises the level ever so briefly. The score by Olly Alexander (also an executive producer) whose own body of work has a distinctive problem perhaps suggests the issue with the screenplay – it needs a key change. Sadly that doesn’t occur until the penultimate scene. Directed by Julia Jackman. You can’t please everyone

The Journey Ahead (2022) (TVM)

You are becoming a woman of a certain age and maybe that’s something to think about. Unmarried fiftysomething actress Madeline Ellis (Holly Robinson Peete) needs to get out of Los Angeles. She’s being hassled by her boyfriend Richard (Lochlyn Munro), she doesn’t want to deal with her agent Randall (Dean Marshall) and she’s just had a blow – she needs to have a lumpectomy. If she has it performed in LA everyone will know about it so just as she’s making the decision to somehow get to New York – she has a fear of flying – another call floors her: the daughter she secretly gave up for adoption in 1984 when she was 19 wants to meet her and lives in New Jersey. Madeline’s assistant Katie (Chanelle Harquail-Ivsak) can’t stop her trying to drive cross-country – until wilderness expert Sarah (Kaylee Bryant) shows up. Sarah trained Madeline to dive for a movie role even though she hates to swim. Sarah is travelling to the mountains for a client to test out a kayak for a corporate client and she has a station wagon. Madeline is bad tempered, rude and hates the music Sarah plays on the car radio. They trundle off through the desert and the mountains and are forced to stop a few nights in a small town whose only accommodation is a bed and breakfast. Madeline makes nice with artist Carl (Mark Humphrey) after knocking down part of the wall outside his gallery and Sarah starts to talk about her own problems and they start to open up to each other … You need me more than I need you. We have been here before – that old road movie = emotional journey territory. Here the frenemies are two women of very different dispositions who however have worked together before. Somehow, Sarah got Madeline to dive despite her fear of water. After these two un-bosom buddies bristle along together this reveals itself as a maternal comedy drama, with two characters in need of reassurance. You said you wanted to take the scenic route. Erin Engman’s screenplay isn’t afraid to tackled the cliched situation with barbs: From what I’ve seen being rich and famous hasn’t made you a fantastic human being. This is a tale of female empowerment that still has a little room for potential romance so enter Carl, the artist who welds and isn’t afraid to challenge a woman in charge. Simplicity. That is a term I am unfamiliar with. That small town stopover is a revelation – not only can the car be fixed, there’s space and time to breathe and a little old cinema for sale. Sarah has her own issues – being unable to handle being dumped by a girlfriend, a chilly relationship with her mother since she dropped out. Both women miss their mothers in different ways. That’s your story not mine/You think you have forever but you don’t. There’s smart writing here even if the story beats feel like they are a little worked over. You seem like the real deal to me. Life lessons are learned in a pleasingly breezy fashion. When Madeline confronts herself about the loss of her daughter she admits to Sarah: I’m scared, guiltridden, heartbroken. It’s like it happened yesterday. At the same time, Sarah hasn’t put things right with her own mother who is good and mad about her quitting college the previous year. A detour to Columbus, Ohio is in order. The story’s charm is mitigated by the occasionally abrasive exchanges and Peete’s performance which is just as gritty as is necessary. A Hallmark Channel and Mysteries movie. Directed stylishly by Linda-Lisa Hayter. Let’s see some women like you – women your age and experience and knowledge.