At a venerable 82, Boorman returns to the autobiographical world of Hope And Glory. He’s made a movie less vibrant than the original, but equally thoughtful and funny.
Jumping to 1952, Boorman’s alter ego Bill (the likable Turner) is facing National Service in a post-war Britain dealing with the twin scourges of communism and teenagers. A dalliance with an older woman (Tamsin Egerton) feels contrived, but the salty depictions of Bill’s eccentric family and the conscripts’ Carry On-like schemes create a lively patchwork of memories, recalled with a whisper of yearning.
