Just Jim (2015) Reviews

• David Lynch meets Paul Thomas Anderson

  remembervhs2015-12-10

  This movie is a lot of things. It's an homage (or a rip-off, you choose) of Punch Drunk Love, Mulholland Drive, and Rebel Without A Cause. It's a teen coming of age film that takes every genre trope and exaggerates it to bizarre extremities. It's a comedy and, in certain segments, it's fairly unsettling. It has an extremely pronounced tonal shift around halfway through that totally caught me off guard. The camera-work is quite good, and the film looks great. The soundtrack is fantastic and it ranges from jangling ambiance (Punch Drunk Love) to deep drones (Mulholland Drive). For a movie that copies so much, it all feels very original. Look forward to Craig Robert's next.

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• Beautifully stylish, dark film.

  Sleepin_Dragon2016-02-02

  Jim is the most unpopular kid around, it's the 80's, his dog has run away, and he's the butt of all the jokes at School. When things seem utterly bleak his fortunes change when a vibrant, handsome, cool American Dean moves into the house next door, but are his offers of making Jim the popular kid well meant? I've become quite a fan of Craig Roberts, a truly talented, understated actor, who oozes charisma in a subtle way. Fair play to him for writing and directing this, what a talent. There are some cracking performances, Roberts apart, I thought Richard Harrington was great as the Headmaster, Emile Hirsch was charismatic as Dean, and I really enjoyed Mark Lewis's Jones performance as Donald. A truly underrated film which seems to belong in so many genres, it's dark, funny, sad, surreal, feel good, grim. I was impressed 8/10

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• Needed just a little more on the script

  Prismark102017-05-28

  Diminutive Craig Roberts did a memorable turn in the BBC3 series Being Human. In Just Jim he stars as well as directing and writing the film. He plays lonely Welsh teenager Jim, who is a bit of a social outcast. Even his dog runs away from him. Then a mysterious American called Dean (Emile Hirsch) moves next door to him and Dean is modelled on a rebellious James Dean. He makes Jim look cool by giving him a kind of 50s American look. Jim's newly rebellious attitude lands him in trouble at school and it is left open ended if Dean is just a figment of an over- imaginative teenage brain. This is a slight coming of age story with a jagged tonal shift in the latter part of the film. It is a little bit weird and off kilter but really does not amount to much.

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• Weird, bizarre and dark. But also hilarious at times.

  peterp-450-2987162016-06-19

  "Do you believe in God? No. I think if he exists, he needs to give me a break. Maybe you just need to man up a bit, instead of being a little bitch." A surprising film and quite different than I expected. I thought it would be a film about a bullied, dorky, funny looking boy who learns to defend himself against the merciless bullies with the help of a new neighbor. Partly this is true. Jim (Craig Roberts) is an outsider everyone hates and who also has some bizarre habits. An introverted, insecure teenager and victim of teasing and mockery. Even his parents aren't exactly supporting him. The total isolation of Jim is portrayed in a visually stunning way. Sometimes you feel sad about it all. Certainly when his own dog leaves him behind. But mostly the images are pretty hilarious. The garden gate that falls down. Jim watching at his race track apathetically with two remote controls in his hands. A birthday party organized by his parents with a large banner. Naturally the specified age is wrong. And then it swirls down in a "Jurassic Park" kind of way, while he's sitting there pathetic on his own. This all seems to be changing, the day the neighbor Dean (Emile Hirsch) moves into the adjacent house. An American James Dean clone who quickly manages to gain the trust of Jim. Dean tries to boost Jim's confidence by giving him advice on how to put his life back on track and take matters into his own hands. As Jim's confidence grows, Dean's behavior begins to take bizarre and aggressive forms. The way he imposes himself on Jim's parents (especially the coquettish mother) isn't exactly kosher. The rebellion side of Dean's ego starts to revolt against Jim, who slowly begins to wonder whether this American guardian angel is reliable or not. The first surprise about this film is that 24-year-old Craig directed and wrote the film. A not inconsiderable feat for such a young individual. Notwithstanding that there are some weak elements in this film, which might be annoying, the end result isn't so bad. What struck me the most were the beautiful fragments and stylistic camera setups. If you'd take single snapshots of the patchy-ranging situations, you could start an exhibition of surrealistic, experimental photography. That's at the same time something many could make a comment about. The entire movie seems like a fusion of several film experiments, which makes it sometimes confusing and complicated. But are you a David Lynch fan (and to a lesser extent you can add Refn) then you'll definitely appreciate it. There's one thing that intrigued me. Was this a story with a double meaning? Was Dean a real person or was he just a fantasy Jim imagined because of his psychologically tormented personality? In hindsight it appears as if the whole movie is occupied by individuals with a mental illness. The crazy ex-soldier (I guess he's off his head in a way) Jim always encounters when walking the dog ( "Yeah, copy that, Clive"). A bizarre responding guard at the local cinema (a typical "Twin Peaks" character). Then there is psychotic Dean. The unworldly and apathetic parents of Jim. And finally the skeptical and introverted lead character. Could Dean be a metaphorical appearance? A way to portray the rebellious Jim, whose true and jovial personality is fighting back in the end? Or is Jim really an outsider who's just attempting to conquer a place in society? The sometimes hallucinatory and confusing images (such as the underwater moments) didn't help me to draw a final conclusion. "Just Jim" isn't exactly a commercially oriented film and certainly won't be well received by many. It's sinister, absurd and does give you sometimes an uncomfortable and voyeuristic feeling. The film manages to mix together a depressing and at the same time a humorous atmosphere. Perhaps it sometimes tends to degenerate into an art-house experimental film. But overall it was a pleasant and surprising experience. More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT

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• Dead Man's Shoes meets Fight Club

  jonny-544422015-04-14

  I was lucky enough to see this premier at SXSW but didn't have any background information around the film so really did not know what to expect. In many ways I was glad as I was immediately swept into a world that Craig had created and the impression of the film has stayed with me since. This is a hugely talented guy; writing, acting and directing a feature length film at the age of twenty-four. An immediate summary of the film is 'cult classic'. This is a film that needs to be seen and without a doubt will be pegged up with some of the best independent British movies made in this decade. I found out after the premier that Craig chose to film this movie in his home town, using locations that he grew up in, such as his school and local hangouts. This explained the deep level of authenticity the film exudes at pretty much every turn. As expected, Craig's performance is outstanding, as is Emile's. The juxtaposition of Dean (Emile), a flamboyant and worldly American, pitched against introverted and quiet Jim (Craig), and dropped into a quite Welsh town, works brilliantly and constantly engages you through the 'Wannabe' storyline. The other characters in the film develop quickly and you immediately gain an affinity to them. Some of them are only on screen for seconds, but you instantly gauge their purpose and they influence your thinking. The best way I can describe this film is to think: Dead Man's Shoes meets Fight Club.

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