4.2
This film is the story of the last years of the life of T.E. Lawrence - Lawrence of Arabia - a scholar, writer, soldier and reluctant hero. Retiring to his cottage in Dorset he hopes to escape his past but is pulled into political intrigue. While he has powerful friends, with his uncompromising manner he has made dangerous enemies. As they plot against him he dies in a tragic motorcycle accident. However, with such enemies was his untimely death an assassination and cover up by the British Secret Service?
Brian Cox
Father (Voice)
Hugh Fraser
Lord Allenby
Nicole Ansari-Cox
Sarah Lawrence
Michael Maloney
George Brough
Hattie Gotobed
Marjorie Negus
Tom Barber-Duffy
T.E. Lawrence
Director
Mark J.T. Griffin
Script Editor
Ingrid Grupping
September 11, 2024
2
A stinker!
I had no idea what I was getting myself in for with this one. I only chose to see it as I watched <em>'Lawrence of Arabia'</em> and <em>'A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia'</em> across the last two days so thought I'd tick this off to complete 'the set', so all I know about it was the title - nothing else. Within a literal minute of it starting, I knew it was going to be a long, long two hours.
Firstly, as I always note for these sorta movies, I respect pretty much every filmmaker out there. I've never attempted to do so, but it's obviously undeniable that making movies on a shoestring budget is no mean feat. It is nothing personal, I'm simply speaking via my own opinion and experience of watching this 2020 release.
Two issues I had with this were audio and acting. The audio seemed quite poorly done, some parts were quieter than intended (e.g. when Lawrence gets deep speaking to the audience) and some bits were louder than necessary (e.g. gun shots). The level of acting is also bottom tier, Tom Barber-Duffy as the main man just didn't work.
Other negatives include the plot and its run time. There is not enough in this for a full blown production, or at the very least not one that runs for two actual hours. The second half doesn't even feature Barber-Duffy as Lawrence, it's just one long 'reaction' to what precedes in the first half. Either way, no part of this flick is even the slightest bit interesting, unfortunately.
The conclusion turns documentary too, almost 'yer da on Facebook'-esque. Oh, and Brian Cox narrates it (yeah, I don't know either).