Stuart: A Life Backwards is based on the biography by Alexander Masters of Stuart Shorter – a relatively unknown man who had a horrendous life of homelessness, madness, psychosis, and abuse.
Remember Bane from The Dark Knight Rises? Remember how bulked and massive he was? Well the Bane you know, fear (and perhaps idolise) is the skinny stick of Stuart Shorter who suffers with muscular dystrophy is this film. Tom Hardy is a bloody versatile actor. Hardy puts everything into the character of Stuart that I imagined him to be throughout reading the book. Funnily enough, Master’s flat looked just how I imagined in the book as well. Good screen adaptation there, Mr Attwood. Stuart was a man haunted by his inner bestial violence, yet ever so gentle in touch. A man who believes in politeness and good manners, yet who says ‘fucking’ to an MP in a meeting. Stuart’s dysmorphic walk is entirely believable, along with his slurred words as an incredible sense of déjà vu overcomes you with recollection of the many homeless you’ve scoffed at in disgust whenever you’ve walked through town.
Alexander Masters, played by Benedict Cumberbatch (the real Alexander wrote the screenplay), opens your eyes to truly see who the homeless really are: generally drunk, hopeless junkies. Maybe not so much of a surprise, but that’s exactly the point. People don’t realise that they’re people. They’re people with problems, people who are haunted, people who are scared, people plagued by boredom, people who have lives so dark and bleak that suicide appears to be their best option. These are people that would stay on the streets through the winter and end up dying because they refuse to give up their animal companion whose ‘fault’ it is when refused entry to a hostel.
As always, Cumberbatch’s performance is brutally honest. Originally scoffing at and disgusted by Stuart’s slurred arguments and ideas for how to move on with a campaign they are both working for, he behaves as the majority of us would, which makes it easier to relate to him and Stuart. Their relationship develops as Masters decides to write a biography about Stuart, not only to make his own name in the world of literary appraisal, but to make Stuart’s too. A true friendship blossoms between the two men, with Stuart stating ‘You’re alright, Alexander.’ while sipping on a beer can on the side of the street as his new friend and biographer makes his way to the bus home.
There are some truly funny moments too; after making convict curry for Alexander and himself, Stuart walks into the lounge with his eyes fixated on the telly. Without even glancing at Alexander he passes him his plate, and then removes one of the forks dangling from his mouth and passes it to Masters. Patently disgusted, Masters wipes the fork numerous times before using it to shovel the orange splodge of the curry into his own mouth. This did break a smile across my stern, hardened face. True friendship, eh.
As with the book, this film is heartbreaking. Managing to get the right amount of humour into such a tragic story is vital, and the book and film pass this exam with flying colours. With Stuart’s uncontrollable ‘black mist’, bad things follow. BAD things follow. The film portrays these brutally, but also delicately, sticking very closely to the book by showing some of the horrific moments of Stuart’s past, whilst also maintaining the audience’s love and respect for the character.
One of Stuart’s black mists
To be honest, I was close to tears by the end of this film, which shows how good Hardy’s and Cumberbatch’s perfomances really were. Being a TV movie, I did not have high expectations for this film, but I was truly blown away. Not bored once throughout, I was totally engrossed from start to finish; it may have helped that I had read the book first, but I don’t think it will matter if you haven’t as the performances are really that good. Coming before either of the actors really made it big, Stuart: A Life Backwards is really worth a watch for any Tom Hardy or Benedict Cumberbatch fan.
✮✮✮✮✮ – CLASSIC STATUS
I’ll be keeping an eye out for director David Attwood‘s prior works to Stuart in the future: very impressed. I’m sure Stuart would be proud.
poetic rage 