On a Clear Day

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Middle-aged bloke seeks to swim English Channel, inspire audiences

By: BROOKE HOLGERSON

4/11/2006 5:27:38 PM

Rating: 2.0 stars

On a Clear Day is the latest inspirational tale from England about working-class stiffs searching for a little self-respect in a world that couldn’t care less (see also: The Full Monty, Billy Elliot). Peter Mullan plays a middle-aged guy who gets laid off and decides to swim the English Channel, healing some old wounds and reuniting with his estranged son in the process. First-time director Gaby Dellal tries to breathe new life into a predictable story, but we’re still left with a lot of scenes of Mullan in the water, swimming. It’s not edge-of-your-seat suspense. Brenda Blethyn and Billy Boyd do their best with the clichéd material (nothing happens you don’t see coming a mile away), and Mullan is scarily believable as a man’s man so afraid of his own emotions that he tries to swim away from them. But a tearjerker lives and dies by its ability to produce tears, and On a Clear Day doesn’t even get its feet wet.

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Watch the trailer for On a Clear Day (QuickTime)

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