Dead end?

Cemetery Junction (2010)

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant team up again to write and direct this coming of age film set in the town Gervais grew up in. It is the 1970s and three friends are trying to find their place in the world as they become adults.

The film itself is well made with good direction, performances from the cast and some funny moments along the way however the plot does little to make it stand out from the raft of similar films. While the film does show something of the transition from “angry young men” to “confused young men” as the trend in youth it offers little in the way of unique answers or insights.

As someone that lives in roughly the same area that the film is set it was to see how things have changed and spot some of the local area names. Even though Cemetery Junction is a real place you have to wonder is a reference to the dead end that the main characters feel they face. It is also interesting to note that the area the new house builds are in that one of the characters aspires to live in is now the same sort of place he seeks to escape.

3/5 decent effort.