it's ultimately impossible to rise above the overly melodramatic script. The world doesn't really need another wicked stepmother, after all.
Mister Foe (2008)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:60
Fresh:43
Rotten:17
Average Rating:6.5/10
Consensus: Carefully balanced between the dark and the dreamy, Mister Foe is a charged coming-of-age story with whimsy and bite.
Synopsis: MISTER FOE is director David MacKenzie's offbeat film adaptation of Peter Jinks's coming-of-age story centered on the unlikely protagonist of Hallam Foe, excellently portrayed by Jamie Bell (BILLY... MISTER FOE is director David MacKenzie's offbeat film adaptation of Peter Jinks's coming-of-age story centered on the unlikely protagonist of Hallam Foe, excellently portrayed by Jamie Bell (BILLY ELLIOT). A troubled young man beset with voyeuristic tendencies and a strong Oedipal longing for his dead mother, Hallam is a sensitive and volatile teenager who has taken to spying on his stepmother, Verity (Claire Forlani), who he suspects is responsible for his mother's death by drowning two years earlier. When a charged psychosexual confrontation with Verity stokes the fires of his unresolved grief, Hallam flees his father's country estate for the picturesque Scottish capital of Edinburgh. There, he sets his sights on Kate (Sophia Myles), an attractive hotel manager who happens to bear a striking resemblance to his late mother. Soon, through a bit of charm and more than a little stalking, Hallam scores a menial job under Kate's employ; romantically--or creepily, depending on your viewpoint--Hallam pines for Kate from a distance, observing her daily activities (kickboxing, grooming, sex), through binoculars. Hallam's adolescent fantasies soon blossom into an unlikely romance when, during an after-work function, Kate revealingly declares, "I like creepy guys." While MISTER FOE tackles some rather unsettling psychological territory, David MacKenzie infuses the film with enough light, comic touches and a playful atmosphere of magic realism to prevent it from edging toward dolorous melodrama. Rounding out this very likeable indie feature are a delightful animated title sequence by artist David Shirgley, and a spirited soundtrack from Domino Records, featuring a bevy of Scottish rockers such as Franz Ferdinand and Orange Juice. [More]
Starring: Jamie Bell, Ciaran Hinds, Sophia Myles, Jamie Sives
Starring: Jamie Bell, Ciaran Hinds, Sophia Myles, Jamie Sives, Maurice Roeves, Ewen Bremner, Claire Forlani
Director: David Mackenzie
Director: David Mackenzie
Screenwriter: David Mackenzie, Ed Whitmore
Producer: Gillian Berrie
Reviews for Mister Foe
Grumpy Glaswegians going at it are once again the focus of David ("Young Adam") Mackenzie's bleak and dreary -- but not wholly uninteresting -- drama.
Another successful and intriguing entry in Mackenzie's growing oeuvre.
Bell was a decent kid actor and a terrific dancer in Billy Elliot, but he's grown into a really first-rate actor.
[A] prettily photographed but relationally science-fictional coming-of-age blather.
The final installment of Mackenzie's 'sex trilogy' is so strenuously edgy it's tiresome.
This Scottish film often pushes for realism, though its stylish tones fall back on whimsy.
While the film playfully telegraphs its inspirations, Mister Foe never persuasively comes together as a dark fable about an adolescent misfit stuck in loss.
[Director David] Mackenzie has reined in the strangeness to deliver a conventional, if better than average, mystery.
By the end of "Hallam Foe," you've nearly forgotten his all-too-regular boy development. Now you're wondering, what's Kate doing when he's not looking?
Didn't I review this coming-of-age picture back in the spring when it was called Charlie Bartlett?
Jamie Bell in his most memorable outing since Billy Elliot, as a Peeping Tom acting upon Oedipal urges in a dysfunctional family drama from Scotland.
A worthy addition to Holden Caulfield's coming-of-age subgenre of off-kilter teenage boys let loose in big cities. Bell and Myles give terrific performances.
Although it's nice to see Mackenzie find uplift in the erotic, what helps drive Mister Foe is how deftly he turns chasm into intimacy between Bell and Myles, both of whom give sharply observed, charismatic portrayals.
Jamie Bell gives a watchable performance in this self-conscious, coming-of-age drama, though the film's overall effect is best described as David Lynch lite.
Jamie Bell has his best role since Billy Elliot in Mister Foe, a darkly comic tale of a twisted teen on the cusp of adulthood.
Director David Mackenzie's complex story is never sure exactly what tone to strike.
You find yourself wishing that what happened in Edinburgh stayed in Edinburgh.
[The film's] intellectualized sexuality stirs neither the head nor the nether regions.
Latest News for Mister Foe
January 08, 2009:
RT Interview: Jamie Bell talks Defiance and Dance
Jamie Bell tap-danced his way into the national consciousness with his breakthrough performance in Billy Elliot nine years ago. Since then he has worked with heavyweight screen... More...
November 02, 2008:
Baret DVD News: A movie about a Scottish Peeping Tom who is sufficiently demented to give even Peeping Toms a bad name, it seems to be a lot less about fetish and voyeurism, than warped emotional espionage as pathological mommy love. ![]()
More...
September 08, 2008:
Teen Peeping Tom acts upon oedipal urges in dysfunctional family drama from Scotland. ![]()
More...
September 03, 2008:
A movie about a Scottish Peeping Tom who is sufficiently demented to give even Peeping Toms a bad name, it seems to be a lot less about fetish and voyeurism, than warped emotional espionage as pathological mommy love. ![]()
More...
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