Adrian Stunt

Don't watch 'Apocalypse Now; the Final Cut'. It shows how a great film work of art could have been ruined, without the editing. The presicion, the dialogue, the momentum of the journey into 'The Heart of Darkness' is completely gone. The momentum is ruined all through, especially when it's interrupted by French colonial scene. Just goes to show how brilliant is the actual cinema release. THAT is what I would call 'The Final Cut'.

It is a little gem of a movie, not great, but worth watching. A little Cassidy & Sundance, The Sting, and The Maiden Heist. Billy Bob Thornton's character is fabulous. Easy to miss the funny lines, because it's so underplayed ('Well, if it was four out of seven'). I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not a classic, but a feel-good.

I'm posting again because this film moved me greatly and I need to say, having read some reviews, that it's ultimately about dashed hopes, the despair of unrequited love, and suicide. In the dark narrative of Betty's twilight afterlife (call it what you will), she has fallen in love, having won a jive dancing competition and given a ticket to Hollywood. In true Hollywood fashion, it's a mystery thriller. Ultimately solved by the victim discovering her own suicide, after the opening of the blue box.

WARNING: for your own sake, please do not read reviews that give away the storyline - it will ruin the film for you. Confession: I haven't seen this version, which was made presumably because people don't like reading subtitles. I cannot imagine the original Danish film can be bettered (that's the 5 star). In that, the performances by Jacob Cedergren & (off-screen) Jessica Dinnage are superlative. Truly gripping, compelling, emotional and at one stage, without giving anything away, you'll feel as if you've been hit in the head by a brick ! Powerful drama from such a simple format. P.S. since writing this I've discovered (thank you Broseley Cinema) there is 'mood music' and a key plot detail change in this American version. That's like drawing a moustache on the Mona Lisa. My strong advice is to watch the original Danish version first. There IS only a first time for this film experience so if you thirst for a dramatic journey of the soul and emotions, don't settle for a glass of warm, flat cola, go for the chilled Dom Perignon that is the Danish original.