Possible Spoilers: MF in "Cargo"

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thanks!  I'll watch that as soon as I've seen the long version.  Whenever that may be....

[Carol the Dabbler]

On 5/10/2018 at 2:35 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

NOTE 1:  There may be minor spoilers visible in this thread.  If you prefer to avoid spoilers entirely, you can still talk about this movie in the Martin Freeman News thread (but please, no spoilers whatsoever in that thread).

NOTE 2:  Any significant spoilers in this thread MUST be enclosed in spoiler boxes (use the "eye" icon).

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I have just added/edited these notes in the first post, as well as downgrading the title (from "SPOILERS!!!).  Thank you for your continued good behavior. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

As I mentioned a while back on the Martin Freeman thread, we got our DVD of Cargo, and now we've watched it.  First off, it played just fine on both our region-free DVD player and our (definitely *not* region-free) Blu-ray player.

Next, I should mention that I purposely watched it on a sunny afternoon in a room with lots of west-facing windows (just in case there were any really scary parts), which may be why I had a bit of trouble following the later part of the movie, which is (literally) kinda dark.  There's one scene in a tunnel, but even after they emerge, there are lots of shadowy scenes where I had trouble being sure what was going on.  It would undoubtedly be easier to follow in a less-bright room.

I found Cargo very suspenseful, bordering on nerve-wracking at times (but note that I have a fairly low tolerance for suspense).  It's also a bit scary in parts; I even screamed once, but only because I was startled -- it's not prolonged scary.  It's pretty icky even more of the time, but none of that is particularly in-your-face, thank goodness.  All in all, I'd say it was well handled, realistically depicted but not at all sensationalistic.

As anticipated, Martin Freeman did an exceptionally good job, and I can certainly see why he wanted this particular role -- it's quietly intense, just the sort of thing I enjoy seeing him do.  Even though the movie is basically a tragedy, it's not one of those awful nihilistic tragedies.  The ending was sad, but I also found it very satisfying.

In short, not exactly my kinda flick, but very nicely done, and I do want to watch it again.  Though I must say, as zombie films with Martin Freeman in them go, Shaun of the Dead is a hell of a lot funnier.