How I Live Now Review
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Before sitting down to watch “How I Live Now”
yesterday afternoon, I did not know it was based upon a young adult novel by
Meg Rosoff. I have recently discussed a somewhat over-saturation of genres in
Hollywood, and I would place the “young-adult-novel-turned-movie” fad that is
currently trending like wildfire on that list of genres being over-played in
the movie business. I understand that these book collections have serious
followings and good or bad, they tend to make bank, I detest the need adapt
every single young adult novel into a movie. Much like the early days of
Marvel, as well as fantasy in a post-“Lord of the Rings” world, these
adaptations tend to sink more often than swim. Just because “Harry Potter” and “Hunger
Games” made money and are immensely popular doesn’t mean Hollywood should just
start greenlighting every adaptation script they receive, but that is the
nature of this business and there are plenty more “Twilights” and “Divergent’s”
to follow.
That is why I was shocked by what I saw in “How I
Live Now,” this is what true adaptation looks like. Director Kevin McDonald
created something with brooding atmosphere, but also created a deeply felt
storyline with characters we cared about. These characters were brought to
astounding life by an extraordinary cast of young British actors. I have been
speaking the praises of Saoirse Ronan for many years now, and I am convinced
she is going to be a big name within the next few years. She is somebody who I
find on-par with Jennifer Lawrence, but she just doesn’t quite have the
superstardom in this country yet, but I think if she keeps turning out
performances as strong as this one, she will be soon. I am also delighted by
the knowledge that she is just one highlight in an ocean of good decisions made
by McDonald.
“How I Live Now” has a similar backdrop to most
young adult novels right now, which is a world on the brink of disaster. The
notion of a post-apocalyptic world is strong in this movie, but instead of
making the backdrop thrilling and somewhat exciting like in “Hunger Games,” or “Divergent,”
this movie paints it in a much different way. Kevin McDonald takes the audience
by the face and smothers it in the ugliness of a world without order, a world
where the government is crumbling and terrorists are everywhere, a world where
mere children have to grow up in seconds or they will be dead in mere minutes.
Not much of the film is thrilling and the sparks of violence in the film never
feels like it was made for an action picture. A world in anarchy is shown in a
very sad way and I liked the way McDonald captured this world. The
cinematography Franz Lustig also advances the movie to bigger, greater heights.
Saoirse Ronan plays Daisy, and her father has
shipped her to England to live with her extended family while the world is on
the brink of a third world war. Daisy is the typical arrogant, rebellious
teenager we see in movies: She is constantly listening to her Ipod, she is
mean, she is ignorant, she is not open-minded about anything and she is
completely mad at the world. That doesn’t seem to change when her cousins Isaac
(Tom Holland), Piper (Harley Bird) and Eddie (George MacKay) welcome her into
their home. Isaac, Piper and Eddie are constantly trying to include Daisy in
their daily activities and she always shoots them down. Eventually, she does
give into their kind-hearts and finds that she actually likes them, and she is
especially drawn to Eddie.
The first half of the film moves slow and has
predictable footnotes at every turn. But once a nuke destroys London, and
soldiers come and break the family up and it is up to Daisy and Piper to
reconnect with the boys, things get bad quick. These kids grow up instantly in
order to survive a world that has gone to Hell. Like I said above, Ronan gives
an outstanding performance and I hope her work here doesn’t go overlooked come
Oscar time. But I was also completely captivated by the work done by Tom
Holland, Harley Bird and George MacKay. These are incredible young actors, and
they transition with ease. There are some minor adult roles throughout the
film, but these kids are unsupervised nearly the entire film and these actors
are on-screen nearly the whole film. It is piercing, harrowing work by these
young actors and they make everything in this film work.
I also mentioned that the film is slow at the
beginning and it is a bit cliché-ridden. While that did bug me to a degree, I
am not sure it could have been helped, and it helps the rest of the film become
thematically sound. I was a little blown away by a particular romance that
brewed in the film. Yes, this is a movie based on a young adult novel; of
course here is love in the air. It just was not the love I intended to see, as
Daisy begins to fall in love with her cousin Eddie. I am not sure how audiences
can begin to find incest sweet or sincere. Maybe it is just me and maybe I need
to actually read the book to understand if I missed something. All I can tell
you is the romance is never sappy or “daytime soap-ish,” it always feels
natural which is a good thing.
FINAL GRADE: B
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