''Black Mountain Poets'' is a 2015 British comedy film directed by Jamie Adams and starring

Alice Lowe Alice Eva Lowe (born 3 April 1977)England & Wales births 1837 – 2006 is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She is best known for her roles as Dr. Haynes in '' Black Mirror: Bandersnatch'' and Madeleine Wool/Liz Asher in ''Garth Mareng ...

Dolly Wells Dorothy Perpetua Wells (born Gatacre; 5 December 1971)Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, vol. III, 2003, pg 3046 is an English actress and writer. She co-wrote and starred in the Sky Living series ''Doll & Em'' (2014–2015) with Emily ...

and

Tom Cullen Thomas Cullen (born 17 July 1985) is a Welsh actor and director. He had roles in the independent film '' Weekend'' (2011), as Anthony Foyle, Viscount Gillingham in the television series ''Downton Abbey'', and as Sir Landry in the historical d ...

. Largely improvised from Adams’ plot outline, the film won the Student Critics’ Jury Award at the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

Synopsis

Two sisters on-the-run for petty crimes hide out at a poetry retreat in the

Black Mountains, Wales The Black Mountains ( cy, Y Mynydd Du or sometimes ) are a group of hills spread across parts of Powys and Monmouthshire in southeast Wales, and extending across the England–Wales border into Herefordshire. They are the easternmost of the f ...

impersonating the world renowned poets whose car they stole.

Cast

as Lisa Walker *

as Clare Walker *

as Richard *Rosa Robson as Louise Cabaye *

Richard Elis Richard Elis (born 1975) is a Welsh actor. He was brought up in the Amman Valley, Wales. He trained at the Welsh College of Music and Drama and graduated in 1996, aged 21 Days before he graduated, Elis was asked to audition for London casting ...

as Gareth *

Laura Patch Laura Patch (born 21 June 1980) is a British comedy actor, best known for playing several characters in the Channel 4 series ''Star Stories'' alongside Kevin Bishop. TV * 2002: ''Lexx'', playing Piccalina Sternflanks in Series 4, Episode 14 "P ...

as Stacey *

Hannah Daniel Hannah Daniel (born 20 January 1986) is a Welsh actress from Cardiff, Wales, best known for her roles on TV series ''Y Gwyll, Hinterland'', ''Keeping Faith (TV series), Keeping Faith'' and ''Holby City (TV series), Holby City''. Early life Hann ...

as Alys Wilding *Claire Cage as Terri Wilding

Production

The film marked the third in a trilogy of films by

Newport Film School Newport Film School, also known as The International Film School Wales, was part of Newport School of Art, Media and Design at the University of Wales, Newport. It was considered the leading institution for the promotion and development of the au ...

graduate Jamie Adams about modern love, after 2014’s

Benny & Jolene ''Benny & Jolene'' is a 2014 British comedy film written, produced and directed by Jamie Adams, and starring Charlotte Ritchie & Craig Roberts. Cast *Craig Roberts as Benny *Charlotte Ritchie as Jolene *Dolly Wells as Rosamund *Rosamund Hans ...

and A Wonderful Christmas Time. The film was shot in five days on location in the Welsh Black Mountains.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2015. The film had a limited UK cinema release in April 2016.

Reception

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

said the film was “flimsy, funny…very silly and likeable” noting that “there are some big laughs, particularly from Alice Lowe” but with little “narrative plausibility”. Guy Lodge in

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

said “Alice Lowe and Dolly Wells are a riot” and described a “deftly escalated farce as humane as it is hilarious”. Neil Young in the

Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

saw a “slight but likeable…uneven, shoestring-budgeted charmer” and praises cinematographer Ryan Owen Eddleston‘s demonstrations of the “alluringly elemental Welsh countryside” and praises the performances of Lowe and Wells but feels the film underuses Hannah Daniel and Clare Cage who “are consistently hilarious in their fleeting, intermittent appearances as the bemused, bohemian-bard ildingbabes. David Jenkins in

Little White Lies (magazine) ''Little White Lies'' is a British, internationally distributed, movie magazine and website. It is published by London-based media company TCOLondon, who also publish the DIY culture magazine '' Huck''. History and content ''Little White Lies'' ...

praises Lowe saying “watching this film is a simple case of waiting for Alice Lowe to appear on screen. If everyone in the cast gives a solid seven out of 10, she’s easily a 12. The camera naturally gravitates towards her, wise to the fact that her reaction to a line of dialogue will likely be funnier than the dialogue itself. She’s hilarious, casually outclassing her fellow players. Even the way she wears a hat is amusing.” Jenkins felt though that the film begins to run out of steam after 30 minutes and the laughs dry up as it transitions from crime caper plot to romance, saying “in its blind search for profundity, it’s a film which loses sight of what makes it interesting in the first place.”

References

External links

{{IMDb title, 4222028 2010s English-language films Films shot in Wales British romantic drama films Films directed by Jamie Adams