Look Both Ways

Look Both Ways is an engaging yet thoroughly innocuous little drama revolving around the lives of several characters over one particularly eventful weekend. Some of the more notable figures we meet are: Meryl (Justine Clarke), an artist who witnesses a man being hit by a train; Nick (William McInnes), a photographer who’s just learned he has cancer; and Andy (Anthony Hayes), a journalist whose girlfriend has announced she’s pregnant. As expected, some of the characters and their respective storylines come off as more compelling than others – with Meryl and Nick’s tentative romance certainly the highlight (it’s hard not to wish the entire film had been about them). Filmmaker Sarah Watt imbues Look Both Ways with some exceedingly clever directorial choices (ie after discovering he’s got cancer, Nick flashes back on his entire life via still photographs), and keeps the story moving at a brisk clip – although the film never quite has the emotional impact of a Magnolia or a Short Cuts. Still, Look Both Ways is certainly worth a look, particularly for fans of this sort of thing (that Clarke delivers an honest, utterly convincing performance doesn’t hurt, either).

**1/2 out of ****