Ashes (2012)

Ashes: Directed by Mat Whitecross. With Luke Evans, Lesley Manville, Ray Winstone, Jim Sturgess. Stricken with Alzheimer’s, Frank (Ray Winstone) is confined to a residential home. One day, James (Jim Sturgess) appears, wanting to re-connect with a father who no longer knows him.

“Most people will be more familiar with Ray Winstone as u0026#39;tough-guyu0026#39; characters, so perhaps thatu0026#39;s one reason heu0026#39;s decided to take a break from u0026#39;busting headsu0026#39; and started to show the viewers that heu0026#39;s got more of a u0026#39;sensitiveu0026#39; side.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn Ashes, he plays an Alzheimer sufferer who gets u0026#39;kidnappedu0026#39; by his son from the hospital heu0026#39;s been committed to and then taken on a roadtrip across England. Why? Well, thatu0026#39;s something you have to find out.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe first thing you need to is that this certainly isnu0026#39;t a u0026#39;feel-goodu0026#39; film. Itu0026#39;s dark, nasty and certainly not light-hearted in any way. Its major plus-point is Ray Winstone. He plays the part perfectly, switching from scared bouts of violence, to just plain scared. Heu0026#39;s the reason this film is worth watching, as the u0026#39;storyu0026#39; is somewhat lacking. I was left wondering why exactly these two were driving across country, as it isnu0026#39;t really explained until about the hour mark. Although, that is the time when the film generally starts to pick up.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe first hour – excluding Rayu0026#39;s performance – is pretty hard to sit through. It doesnu0026#39;t really go anywhere and drags by. However, if you can excuse that, it does get better and the last act ties everything up.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf youu0026#39;re a fan of Ray then youu0026#39;ll enjoy this. Otherwise, youu0026#39;ll have to be in the mood for a very dark drama to get something out of this.”