Wetherby (1985) R - 2½ Stars

I have to say, this movie lost me so many times, I constantly was wondering what I just saw and what was the relevance to the movie. In fact, the only part of the movie that made 100% sense to me was when Morgan takes out the gun and blows his head open. It does come together, well sort of, at the end but the journey to get there, takes the longest possible route. The movie constantly flashes back to an earlier time, but it was not clear who's lives we were watching. It would have made more sense to me if I knew the lady who witnessed the suicide, was the same lady who watched her lover go to war in the 50's, only to be murdered at a card game there. It got very good ratings on blockbuster.com, but I just have to call this movie bizarre and I didn't like the sound reproduction at all.

Jean Travers (Vanessa Redgrave) has spent her whole life in the quaint small town of Wetherby. In her golden years and unmarried, she teaches school to to pre-teen students. 35 years prior, she had a passionate love affair with young service man that was put on hold when he shipped out to Malaysia for war. In Malaysia, he is murdered at a private card game, along with another young soldier. Her dreams of marriage ended when she heard the news of his tragic death.

To this day, Jean is active in her community and volunteering. She decides to throw a dinner party for a group of her friends. Two other couples join her and also a young man named John Morgan (Tim McInnerny). John had entered the house with one of the couples so Jean just assumed it was them who invited him. The couple just assumes he know Jean and is one of the invitees, so nothing is said and the total stranger fits right in with the crowd. The ceiling tile starts to leak over the dinner table and John graciously offers to help repair it. The night ends after political topics of Nixon and other political concerns of the era.

The next day, John Morgan returns to the home of Jean. He thanks her again for being so kind to him in opening up her home and explains that he was an uninvited guest. While she feels completely baffled in disbelief of his presence at her party, John pulls a gun out of his pocket, stuffs it in his mouth and kills himself. While the police try to uncover the motive behind this senseless loss of life, Jean opens up a whole new can of worms shes had tucked away on her shelf for quite sometime.

1985 - Wetherby - Berlin International Film Festival - Golden Bear

MGM Distribution Company
Director: David Hare
Writer: David Hare
Producer: Simon Relph

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