THOUGH mercifully not a cliché-ridden cradle-to-the-grave Dylan Thomas biopic, this film based around the love triangle-cum-friendship that evolved between the Welsh bard (played by Matthew Rhys), his wife Caitlin (Sienna Miller) and his childhood lo
ve Vera Phillips (Kiera Knightley) is pretty, but pretty inconsequential.
Blitz-ravaged London is the initial setting, with nightclub singer Vera walking back into Dylan's life where, unexpectedly, she promptly strikes up a strong bond with Caitlin, despite the obvious connection she still has with the poet. Complicating matters is the arrival of William Killick (Cillian Murphy), a young soldier who falls for a reluctant Vera and, through dogged persistence, coaxes her into marriage just as he's about to be shipped out to the front line. It's hard to see what the point of the film is after this. As the story relocates to the drab Welsh coast, it simply peters out in meaningless fashion suggesting that the real-life incident upon which the climax is based perhaps didn't have as much significance to all involved as the rest of the film needed it to have. It all looks beautiful, of course, and Knightley and Miller do some good work, but sometimes beauty just isn't enough.
The full article contains 230 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
