If you were looking for a film that will have you hanging off the edge of your seat, gripped from start to finish, then I would say this isn’t for you. What it is, however, is a perfectly pleasant fairy-tale that reminds us that, in order for human beings to blossom to our full potential, then basic kindness and companionship are equally essential as sunlight is to a sunflower. Excuse the corny metaphor, but it only seems apt seeing as this film is basically one big (slightly cheesy) comparison drawn between its main character, Bella Brown, and her unkempt, neglected garden.
‘This Beautiful Fantastic’, directed by Simon Aboud, features the almost sickeningly quirky Bella Brown, whose abandonment as an infant led to a reclusive adulthood plagued by obsessive-compulsive tendencies, (although ‘OCD’ seems a bit harsh when discussing this film… ‘Neat freak’ might be more appropriate). Her ‘neat freakiness’ does not extend, however, beyond the four walls of her flat. In fact, her garden is in an appalling state of neglect, due to her ‘fear and loathing’ of flora and fauna. Her tyrannical neighbour (played by Tom Wilkinson) seems hell-bent on ensuring the misery of his fellow species, and after filing a complaint against his oddball neighbour, Bella is given one month to transform her garden, or she is out on the street. And so the literal and (may I say, slightly overused) metaphorical transformations begin.
Neighbour Alfie, played by Tom Wilkinson, employs a charming Irish cook named Vernon who is fed up of being treated like a slave by the grumpy old brute. After meeting Bella, he jumps ship, in fact he jumps the fence, and begins ‘working’ for her instead. Alfie, now desperate and living on a diet of dry cheese sandwiches, comes to an agreement with Bella and Vernon. Vernon will continue to cook for Alfie, provided that he assists Bella with her botanical makeover, in the hope that she can keep her home. And thus the three form an unlikely alliance, and Bella gains the family she has forever lacked.
The character of Vernon, played by Andrew Scott, is in some ways an antidote to the occasionally insufferable wackiness of the other characters. We sympathise with the widowed single father far more than we do with our leading lady, who lacks the depth needed to encourage any real emotional involvement. Bella’s love interest, Billy (Jeremy Irvine), is a bumbling inventor who spends his time in a warehouse creating bizarre mechanical creatures that also become a metaphor for Bella’s own transformation.
Whilst this is a charming story at times, albeit ambiguous in terms of time and period, but it will however leave you feeling somewhat warm and fuzzy, provided you are not looking for something with endless hidden messages and layered characters.
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