Sometimes Always Never a most unusual drama-comedy

One of Britain’s most beloved actors and one of the world’s most popular board games are the stars of a most unusual drama-comedy in Sometimes Always Never.

One of Britain’s most beloved actors and one of the world’s most popular board games are the stars of a most unusual drama-comedy in Sometimes Always Never.

READ MORE:

FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY A CHEEKY AFFAIR

WHAT YOU SHOULD WATCH THIS WEEKEND

HOTEL MUMBAI VACANT AND VIOLENT

SOMETIMES ALWAYS NEVER

Rating: *** (3 out of 5 stars)

Director: Carl Hunter (feature debut)

Starring: Bill Nighy, Sam Riley, Alice Lowe, Jenny Agutter

Forever a crossword between them

The great Bill Nighy (you know him from Love Actually, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and literally scores of other UK productions) plays Alan, a professional tailor and lifelong Scrabble devotee looking high and low for his missing son Michael.

The lad vanished without trace some time ago — the movie is vague when it comes to exact details of his disappearance — and Alan has made it his mission in life to find out what happened.

Bill Nighy in a scene from the movie Sometimes Always Never.

An eccentric chap who uses his mastery of words and his expertise in Scrabble to keep the world at a distance, Alan proves to be an enduring source of frustration to what remains of his family.

Another son, Peter (Sam Riley), his wife Sue (Alice Lowe), and their online-distracted teenage boy Jack (Louis Healy) are all trying reach Alan in their own way, but he is a tough nut to crack.

Even after Alan moves into Peter’s house for a spell, he may as well be on another planet. Especially once Alan starts believing he may have found a crucial clue as to Michael’s whereabouts from a Scrabble player on the internet.

Bill Nighy in a scene from the movie Sometimes Always Never. Transmission Films.

This quiet, yet eloquent affair trades in contrasting lines of whimsy and sorrow that could have some viewers losing their way.

Exchanges of dialogue — laced with exquisite wordplay and often delivered in a disarmingly deadpan manner — are going to be a particular sticking point for anyone not in the mood for a mild challenge.

The character of Alan is a tricky one to sell to audiences, a man who is aloof to the people closest to him, yet alert to all that life still has to offer.

Luckily, an experienced hand like Bill Nighy is there to guide you to the right place by the end of Sometimes Always Never.

Bill Nighy in a scene from the movie Sometimes Always Never. Transmission Films.