Belfast

 A feel-good but very superficial crowd pleaser. Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical was pleasant enough but lacked depth and heart. And for a story told from a child’s point of view, it also lacked a child’s innocence and naïveté (thank “Jojo Rabbit”).

The filming was too deliberately organised and ordered that at times it felt emotionally sterile despite what was happening on screen. The most resonant scenes were those set in the theatre, the big dance moment (that was brilliant!) and the final parting shot with Dame Judi Dench. I can see why she was nominated but in all honesty, if only one actress was to be nominated, Caitríona Balfe, should have had the edge.

Balfe was the emotional heart of the film, whereas Dench was more the soul. Ciarán Hinds’ nomination was well-deserved, and although Jamie Dornan got the least recognition, he was actually quite good here too. He definitely looked the part, all 40s Hollywood suaveness.

At a brisk 90-odd minutes, the story went by easily but not always briskly. Branagh’s direction was just too deliberate and mannered, and although Haris Zambarloukous’ black and white cinematography was pretty it was kind of missing the artistic styling of films like “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, “Cold War” and “Roma” which then begged the question, did this film really need to be in black and white? Music was by Van Morrison and the closing, Oscar-nominated, song, “Down to Joy” was lovely, but the needle drops throughout the film was just a tad too frequent and too much.

The film was enjoyable enough and it would definitely strike a chord with most people for its easily relatable relationships, but ultimately I would not have been too upset if Branagh’s Best Director nod had been snubbed for Denis Villeneuve instead.