Heartfelt film Breathe starring Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy is a joyful, reflective take on couple who overcome paralysis in 1960s
Based on a true story, the gripping drama tells the story of a tea trader who finds himself paralysed from the neck down
ON the face of it, this tale of love overcoming disability is The Theory of Everything without the famous scientist.
But debut director Andy Serkis delivers a movie which is more joyful and reflective than that Oscar nominee.
Based on the true story of a tea trader who finds himself paralysed from the neck down, Breathe is surprisingly funny, given the serious subject matter.
Robin Cavendish was no ordinary man and Andrew Garfield, who plays him, is no regular actor.
Garfield goes full-on garrulous, portraying a character who laughs in the face of adversity.
This leads to him not only leaving hospital against medical advice but risking his life by going abroad.
Breathe is set in the early Sixties when patients on artificial breathing machines were expected to rot on a soulless hospital ward. Instead, Robin gulps life down.
Equally impressive are Claire Foy as his unflappable wife Diana and Tom Hollander playing her fretting twin brothers.
And Hugh Bonneville adds to the humour as eccentric scientist Teddy Hall, who invents a special wheelchair which enables Robin to leave hospital.
I challenge anyone watching Breathe to match the stiff upper lip of these characters by not welling up.
My bet is that by the end, no matter how much you try to constrict your chest, emotions will burst out.
Breathe
(12A) 117mins
★★★★
