It's A Beautiful View

There are moments in ‘It’s A Beautiful View’ which threaten to be interesting - indeed it features a fairly intriguing baseline story - however, it never shifts out of first gear, and instead just trundles along at the same monotonous pace for its eight-minute runtime.

‘It’s A Beautiful View’ tells a generational story, with Charlie (Bradley Mell) at it’s forefront, as he visits a peaceful beach where he used to spend each Sunday with his grandfather. The two had a close relationship, and as Charlie reminisces about that bond, John (Joe Facer), and George (Anthony Aitman) also pop up on the beach, seemingly as Charlie’s forefathers. It’s a concept which could have been fresh and intriguing, but is instead turgid, too plodding and sentimental for its own good, becoming bogged down in poorly written ruminations.

Aitman directed the short, whilst Facer and Mell wrote the script, so this is a tight-knit production, and whilst it’s always evident that the trio care about what they’re doing, you do wonder whether perhaps they gave themselves slightly too long a leash. The decision to tell most of the dialogue through voiceover is disappointing, given that the actor is left staring out into the admittedly beautiful view. Perhaps we could have seen the different actors interact, as though united on some spiritual plain which connects the living and dead, but alas, they just stand there staring wistfully out to sea.

‘It’s A Beautiful View’ may look good - the title fits the picture - but it doesn’t play good. An idea which undoubtedly works better on paper than on screen, it’s a film which could have been so much more, and invited so much more emotion than the bland shrug of the shoulders which it garners.