Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *
Cast: David Oyelowo, Storm Reid, Mykelti Williamson, Alfred Molina, Brian Tyree Henry, Shinelle Azoroh, Byron Mann, April Grace, Omar Leyva, Sarkis Ninos, Ray Barnes.
The concept of Time travel is one that is not new to film audiences, by its very nature it allows us to ask what if?, it permits the cinematic voyeur to believe they can find a way to change a traumatic event into one of benign occasion, and yet for some unfathomable reason, there are those that still find way to build up a story which revolves around the novel way in which it is applied, to make the situation one of consequence and incident, and turn it on its head and deliver a tame, if not submissive, ending.
Whilst Never Let Go is not strictly a Time travel film in its strictest sense, the desire to act upon the genre is not far away from its overall ambition, and whilst Jack Radcliff and his niece Ashley are paired together to solve her murder through the sense of being able to contact each other before the crime has been committed in her future; and it is in this ambition that the film eventually begins to peter out after struggling to keep the story-line intact for the vast majority of the film.
Never let go, there are many films produced to which this sentiment certainly would be tempting to follow the advice offered, and yet even with the substance of the film finding it difficult to stand upon its own feet, it has to be noted that the performances of the actors is enjoyable, even thrilling, and in that lays the dichotomy of the vast majority of modern films; you can either have a great performance which keeps you interested, or you can have an insightful story-line to keep you hooked, yet never the twain shall meet.
In this case the former is certainly the place in which the film succeeds, and in David Oyelowo as Detective Jack Radcliff, Storm Reid as his niece Ashley, Mykelti Williamson as Jack’s police partner Bobby Owen, and the ever-watchable Alfred Molina as Howard Keleshian rule the screen with intrigue, with passion for their craft; it is just a shame that the ending, the climax on the film seemed to wither under the gaze of the previous hour, so much so that the set up was rushed, unworthy of what had come before, making it feel as if the watcher had been subjected to a delicious set of smells wafted under their nose but then it turned out be a skunk doused in perfume on the dish.
Never Let Go, occasionally you have to so that you can preserve the integrity of the film you were watching.
Ian D. Hall