British romantic thriller Comes a Bright Day stars Submarine’s
Craig Roberts as Sam Smith, a young bellboy at the Mandarin Oriental
hotel in London. When his boss Mr Morgan sends him on an errand, to take
a watch belonging to one of the guests to a nearby jewellers to get it
adjusted, he pops into the café where his best friend Elliot works on
the way. There he is introduced to Mary (Imogen Poots) who spots the
expensive watch he has decided to slip on and tells him he should stop
by ‘Clara’, the exclusive jewellery boutique where she works, which just
so happens to be the place his boss told him to visit.
So off he goes to the jewellers, to eye up the sparkling gems and the
beautiful assistant Mary. Unfortunately, while he is there two armed
robbers, who call each other Cameron (Kevin McKidd) and Clegg (Josef
Altin) to hide their real names, burst in. The jewellery shop’s owner
Charlie (Timothy Spall) sounds the alarm and the police are soon on
their way, but after a shootout during which Clegg is shot in the foot,
the criminals retreat back inside. Getting caught up in this jewellery
heist-gone-wrong leaves Sam, Mary, and Charlie trapped inside, taken
hostage by the psychotic Cameron and his partner-in-crime as they look
for a way to escape.
Comes a Bright Day is writer and director Simon Aboud’s
feature-length debut. He began his career as a writer for an advertising
agency, and does well with this low budget film, which restricts most
of its action to just one room. The confined environment is well-used
and tensions run high for the criminals and hostages who are all
trapped.
The failed robbery attempt at the jewellers isn’t the main focus of
the film; it’s more of a backdrop. It provides an opportunity for the
main characters to get to know each other, and there are lots of scenes
with Sam, Mary, and Charlie talking about their lives and their dreams.
Mary tells a touching story about the history of a ruby bracelet, which
offers some welcome escapism during the hostage situation.
The film is partly a coming of age story about Sam gaining the
confidence to achieve his dream of opening a restaurant with his friend,
and partly a love story about a chance encounter with Mary. These tend
to push the more thrilling criminal parts to the side, meaning the
supporting cast don’t get enough time to shine. Kevin McKidd’s disturbed
robber with a stutter is entertaining and intense but underused. The
complicated character enjoys listening to Madame Butterfly
while slowing sawing through a ceiling panel in the hopes of finding an
escape route. But his motivations are never explained and we don’t learn
much about him, which is a shame.
Comes a Bright Day tries to juggle lots of elements and
genres, leaving some by the wayside slightly while others take centre
stage. Ultimately though it is still a very watchable British film with a
great cast, and it marks a promising debut from Simon Aboud.
[DVD screener provided by flickfeast. Review originally posted here]
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