Flashbacks of a Fool: Critic Reviews

Without Daniel Craig's 007-enhanced profile, it's unlikely that Flashbacks of a Fool would have appeared anywhere except the Netflix queues of his most rabid fans.

It's like an awkward (and how could it not be awkward?) marriage of The Cement Garden and Beaches; an intriguing bit of driftwood, an exotic wreck.

Whiile pic doesn't exactly feel like a vanity project, its weak script might have kept it forever in development hell if debutant writer-helmer Baillie Walsh weren't the topliner's good buddy.

The bizarre secret isn't nearly interesting enough to justify the long buildup to it, and since it amounts to bad luck it doesn't really reveal anything about the actor, anyway.

Charismatic Daniel Craig plays Joe Scott, a washed up movie star, addicted to a misspent life of sex, drugs and uncool behaviour

... an uninspired rearrangement of familiar elements, with little emotional force to justify the entire project.

Craig does a hopelessly dissipated futuristic Bondish has-been celeb party animal, undone by an overload of hard drugs and sex orgies in a flash forward culture clash of Hollywood excess and soapy UK downhome family values.

Flashbacks flounders in the final third.

Impressively directed and superbly acted by a terrific cast, this is both a nostalgia-fuelled coming-of-age tale and a genuinely moving drama about making peace with the past.

Craig's shaken-but-not-stirred charisma makes the most of an underwritten part, but the movie nearly flat-lines when the actor's not onscreen, which is often.

While the dialogue is often hackneyed and full of rushed backstory (not enough flashbacks, evidently), the cinematography excels, particularly the chiaroscuro interiors.

An array of small successes can't support the crushing weight of the malformed screenplay. Not a complete loss by any means, though, and Walsh is a talent to keep an eye on.

A two-hour whining session in which Daniel Craig plays fading actor Joe Scott.

It's a handsome picture but Joe's lack of evolution is unsatisfying.

When the record stops spinning Flashbacks Of A Fool doesn't amount to much more than "learn from past mistakes and don't take your life for granted", but it's strikingly shot, perfectly played, and rather well scored.

It's a fool's paradise for Craig as his fading filmstar looks back on how teenage hormones lead to tragedy. Walsh doesn't fritter away Daniel's magnanimity, but the lurch between Hollywood washout and ramshackle English adolescence needs more to bond.

Fatally, Craig's self-obsessed Joe never develops into anyone more interesting.

An uneven drama that uneasily mixes Hollywood satire and coming-of-age tale, Flashbacks Of A Fool is hampered by its adventurous attempt to link the two. Much like its central character, Walsh's film is stylish but empty.

Despite the skilful and evocative photography, the strong cast seem to misfire against the imbalanced structure and clashing styles.

An ambitious but disappointing, regret-filled psycho-drama.

Extremely well-filmed, with terrific performances from the entire cast. But the plot feels underdeveloped.