X
- 2020
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 32 m
- 2020
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 32 m
Summary Joan and Tom (Lesley Manville and Liam Neeson) have been married for many years. An everyday couple with a remarkable love, there is an ease to their relationship which only comes from spending a lifetime together. When Joan is diagnosed with breast cancer, the course of her treatment shines a light on their enduring devotion, as they mu...
Directed By: Lisa Barros D'Sa, Glenn Leyburn
Written By: Owen McCafferty
- 2020
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 32 m
- 2020
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 32 m
Ordinary Love
70
7.2
Where to Watch
Summary Joan and Tom (Lesley Manville and Liam Neeson) have been married for many years. An everyday couple with a remarkable love, there is an ease to their relationship which only comes from spending a lifetime together. When Joan is diagnosed with breast cancer, the course of her treatment shines a light on their enduring devotion, as they mu...
Directed By: Lisa Barros D'Sa, Glenn Leyburn
Written By: Owen McCafferty
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 25 Critic Reviews
70
84% Positive
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
12% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 25 Critic Reviews
70
84% Positive
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
12% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Here’s the thing: Joan and Tom do come back from it. The couples who stay together figure out how to do that. Ordinary Love is an argument that, as hard as that is, it’s worth it.
Ultimately, Ordinary Love is a celebration not just of this functional, delightfully average relationship, but also of life itself, risking and wrestling with loss not in spite of the fact it’s shared with others, but precisely because of that fact.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 16 User Ratings
7.2
63% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
38% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 16 User Ratings
7.2
63% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
38% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Written and played in a beautifully understated way, which in the hands of Hollywood would probably have been over the top schmaltzy drama. Liam Neeson is better than usual, but it is the wonderful Lesley Manville that breaks your heart. What a fabulous actress she is.
Report
Anchored by great performances from Liam Neeson and especially Lesley Manville, Ordinary Love is alive to the feelings and moments other hospital dramas overlook. Its accumulation of details form a shattering whole.
Cancer dramas are not uncommon; what lifts Ordinary Love just enough out of the ordinary is its concern with how a married couple survives the ordeal. Intimate, unsparing, and attuned to the micro-nuances of a longtime relationship, it is made special by the two actors at its center, both out-size talents who here relish the opportunity to play close and draw from life.
David Holmes and Brian Irvine’s score is melodic and insistent, and it knows when to fall away into silence to let the audience appreciate Neeson and Manville’s superb chemistry.
Ordinary Love gets everything right, but there’s almost nothing in the way of a major plot revelation or insightful flashback explaining certain elements from the past.
I hated this film. I hated every minute of it, and at times it even made me angry.
This is quite a touching film, a domestic drama about a middle aged couple going through an understandably tough time. There's a fair amount of symbolism present, with the pet fish and other things. I could understand the wife's concern and assumptions at times, I feel I may think similar things, if I were to be in her position. I thought the cast do well - Manville and Neeson both give quite solid performances. Indeed, it seemed quite believable that they were a married couple. The thought that so many, probably hundreds, if not thousands, of such married couples/families/people go through the process of cancer diagnosis and treatment in the UK, is a sobering thought indeed. I thought this was a well made film. I like how it shows the affection they have for one another, without being overly and unnecessarily sugary sweet. It's a thoughtful film that treats the topic well. I would recommend this film, yes.
Report
The emotional manipulation and sentimentalism are palpable, it is a fact and the film cannot escape it, although that doesn't really mean the film is bad, what happens is that the drama can only work on one course once the narrative shows the traces of that course, especially with a recurring theme such as cancer. And that's why despite the good and credible performances of Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville, the film never manages to overcome the same barrier that its story imposes on it because although it doesn't cease to be a good subject, there's little they can extract that it feels like something new or different.
Although one point I must emphasize is that I read some criticisms about the lack of a more dramatic tone - as if cancer wasn't enough problem - And this is due to the devotion and love the character of Neeson professes to his wife, but I don't actually see that as a problem, in any case it doesn't resort to an easy element already seen in which the disease creates a schism in the relationship. And after all, despite its theme, Ordinary Love is precisely that: A love story.
In the end Ordinary Love doesn't resource to anything that challenges clichés but it works fine enough because there will always be a difference when things are done with more talent and quality.
Report
A difficult but impactful watch, Ordinary Love successfully portrays love and loss in a way that feels entirely human. Even at just 90 minutes, the film can feel surprisingly lengthy, but a tour de force performance from Lesley Manville always manages to pull you back in.
Report
(Mauro Lanari)
One of the cases in which art does not add new points of view to that already provided by reality.
Report
Production Company
British Film Institute (BFI),
Northern Ireland Screen,
Canderblinks Film and Music,
Out of Orbit,
Head Gear Films,
Metrol Technology,
Kreo Films,
Bankside Films
Release Date Feb 14, 2020
Duration 1 h 32 m
Rating R
Tagline Love doesn't give up.
Awards
Irish Film and Television Awards
• 2 Wins & 6 Nominations
London Critics Circle Film Awards
• 2 Nominations
National Film Awards, UK
• 2 Nominations
