Being Human

This is rather pointless and features an uninteresting main character. Forsyth reaches for a clever concept, but fails to grab hold. A few solid sections are outweighed by some weird period pieces.

This film follows five men and their problems, in five distinct historical epochs, ranging from the Neolithic to our time. What is common among all of them? The character has to be brave and face the problems. And, of course, all are played by Robbin Williams in one of his few serious and dramatic roles. The film tells five isolated stories. They are short, have no great meaning, and are not particularly interesting. Bill Forsyth, the director / writer, seems to have tried to pursue any philosophical approach in all of this which, I confess, has totally escaped my eye. The fact that the film presents so many disjointed stories is equally confusing and makes the film annoying. We have never adhered to the film nor to what it presents. It is as if there is a wall between the film (the mind of its creator) and the audience. That makes it all a boring, not to say detestable, cinematic experience. Although the film itself is bad, it counts on a good cast headed by Robbin Williams (in one of its rare dramatic works). We can also name the names of Robert Carlyle, Theresa Russell and Ewan McGregor. I believe everyone did their best, but with such bad material it was hard to do miracles.