This was a very disappointing watch, given its current soaring position on the imdb top 250. Whilst the performances of tetraplegic millionaire Philippe and his accidental carer from the wrong side of the tracks Driss are engaging, the desperate attempts to make this story seem unsentimental render it exactly the opposite. Despite being a true story, the points of the story it depicts nevertheless seems highly unlikely because of the lack of emotional depth they represent - the film ends…

Perhaps all the more heartbreaking because you know it happened across the world to many families behind closed doors (and still does to a large extent), this is the before/after story of Peter Falk not coping with wife's what-we'd-now-call manic depression or bipolar disorder. I can well believe it felt very expositional at the time, but the fact it holds up so well is a depressing indicator of how taboo mental health discussion remains. The acting is exemplary, a perfect…

The whole film is excellent - some of the strange idiosyncrasies of the new talkie film era, such as overdubbing and silent outdoor scenes, work unusually in its favour even to a modern day audience. The set-up, children singing in the street about a murderer whose presence looms over them, is a masterclass, and its depiction of the whole town, suffering under this wicked spell, is something that has been emulated throughout film history. But the film is a standout…

I rarely watch films alone that I've seen before, because I enjoy the evaluation process of rating on imdb. However letterboxd has given me the perfect opportunity to revisit films I haven't seen in the last ten years, before which I can't say I was particularly into movies. American Beauty was one of the first I watched getting into films as a mere teenager, and I have always wondered if it would stack up against the 10/10 rating I gave…