Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Admirable film.

A Masterpiece!

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

"Flashbacks of a Fool" is a film that I wanted to see for a long time, but I only found it last week, in a second-hand moviestore. The story is very original, and everything that happens throughout this story isn't possible to be seen coming-- at least for me. There's a good character development, and it's indeed interesting to see how was the relationship between Joe Scot and Boots when they were teenagers. In my opinion, there's a lot of homoerotism in the scenes involving their youth-- which is quite common for young men, anyways. However, what makes this film even more interesting is the quality of the direction. Baillie Walsh proves to be really talented; nothing is too rushed, or quickly showed. There's affectivity in every scene he has built, and the cast is also professional to deliver what he wants to. Even the bodily fights are able to show realism, although it's not an action or adventure movie, which proves how careful is the director of this. I'm just not giving it a better rating because the ending could have been better written, but I'm sincerely praising the guys involved in this project for such a good job.

First, consider an illustration that is not in the movie, but has its place in the context of this review: The hapless NY Jets' Tebow-Sanchez team has found it's footing in a glorious fashion, just in time to earn a place in the playoffs. They're opponents in the big matchup are the Patriots who the Jets miraculously beat in last of regular season. The Super Bowl is both a Cinderella story and dramatic rivalry and you're watching it on a 72" wide screen at your best friend's home theater. Just at kickoff, your host's curvaceous wife enters and begins serving snacks and drinks while wearing only a shear teddy. So much for the poor timing of a support event if your seriously interested in the big game. Now hold that thought....The "flashbacks of a Fool" story was intended to illustrate how a series of misjudgments created a cascade of unforeseen events with a life changing result. The central character is Joe, who in his teen years is seduced by Evelyn, a bored, licentious housewife. During the episodes in which he is in a tryst with Evelyn, the story illustrates a developing drama concerning how Joe is neglecting his relations and stepping into a precipice. Regret and anxiety about the consequences of his teenage mistakes affect Joe's peace of mind and personal relations for decades until he returns to his hometown and begins making amends. At any level this is a little movie, probably requiring only in-between-movies time commitment for its main actors. The aforementioned doesn't suggest that the story couldn't create a lasting impression on viewers and here is where the director (Walsh) loses the story. We all suspected that Jodhi May had a firecracker hidden in her corset in those period movies she's been frequently seen in. For some reason, Walsh decided to liberate all that pretense in this film in grand style. Some external background drama referenced while Joe and Evelyn are locked in sex is very significant to the developing story. The background drama is flashed to during the sex scenes to help build foreboding while Joe is diverted. The problem is that the sex scenes are so graphic. Now, refer back to my illustration at the beginning with respect to story balance and timing. May is performing her part in the sex scenes hell-for-leather, such that when the director pans over to tragic consequences occurring simultaneous with the sex, most men viewers (and more than a few women viewers) reaction will be, "Forget that part! Back to the Jodhi May scene !" That is not the effect that need have resulted and its here that Walsh lost focus on the development of the story he was tasked with illustrating. This needn't have been a "small" movie from the standpoint of the story...but the thing most will remember about the film is the standout Jodhi May sex scene, rather than any story developments. Too bad. Walsh should have taken lessons from Michael Mann in how he balanced intense human conflict, developing simultaneously with the tragic suicide of Jodhi May's character Alice in "Last of the Mohicans" to crescendo a remarkable, memorable story.

Joe Scot is a fading actor, spending his days and nights drinking heavily and taking even heavier drugs. He is a broken man, all on his lonesome.But the untimely death of an old friend revives old feelings and demons Joe Scot had long forgotten.The film is slow to begin with...Actually it has an awful opening with a tired Daniel Craig moaning and drinking away his day....It's definitely a terrible opening, however once we delve into Joe's past, we see the young boy he once was...the girl he fell in love with, and the woman he made love too, and the tragic death he caused. It is then that the film takes shape and we, witness a broken Joe Scot return home to face those old demons he had once run away from.....

Joe Scot is a successful British actor in LA, but his life and career are beginning to fall apart. When Joe receives news of the death of Boots, a former best pal from his adolescent years, a crisis approaches that has its roots in a twisted sequence of events that had occurred almost twenty years previously. "Flashbacks of a Fool" relates how an incident in adolescence can taint an outwardly successful life with a sense of failure and remorse. The pivotal episode had involved Boots and a precociously charismatic girl, and the story is told in flashback as Joe remembers how the threesome's triangulated connection had fragmented and rearranged itself after a tragic accident. Unfortunately the film neglects to explore Joe's bond with Boots, and fails to show the friendship's crucial importance. Instead of focusing attention on the central figures, too much time is devoted to the comings and goings of various peripheral characters and Joe's seduction by a sluttish neighbor.Writer/director Baillie Walsh spins his narrative with high quality yarn, and the result goes well beyond interesting, and almost enters the territory of the exceptional. Despite its shortcomings the film has strong emotional content, the motives and relationships of the characters are believable, the acting of the fine cast is excellent, and the cinematography is luscious.