Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal

Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal is a fantastic story about the rivalry between the post and the “clacks” in what can only be described as a fictional town in a fictional country in a fictional time. This whole fictional thing is the Discworld, a series of stories that are not as popular as they should be.
In short, the plot is good, the characters are great, the visuals are a treat and the actors are awesome.

Playing the impossibly tough Adora Dearheart, Claire Foy does a fantastic job; she is so spikey and likeable, I can’t imagine someone else for the part. Last time I’ve seen anything of her’s, she was Little Dorrit, the kindest girl in literature.
Richard Coyle is adorable as the repenting con artist smitten by the not so adorable Adora.
Other remarkable faces were David Suchet as Reacher Gilt and Charles Dance as lord Vetinari. I admire both immensely.

What I loved about the movie was that it’s completely unattached to the world that we know; as a serious fantasy fan, thumbs up for the ingenuity.
However, when I first saw the trailer I was like… wait a minute, how did I not know that Tim Burton is doing a new movie? Well, it was because actually Jon Jones was doing the new movie. The name didn’t sound familiar, so I googled him and apparently he is responsible for the 2007 Northanger Abbey. Now his name will certainly stick with me, I loved that adaptation and I thought it was the best in ITV’s Jane Austen season. So I awaited with a frightened yet hopeful little heart. Frightened because it looked an awful lot like Tim Burton and hopeful because Catherine’s gothic dreams were promising.
In the end it turns out I was right to be fearful; if the plot, script and acting were 96% satisfying, the visuals kinda let me down. Don’t get me wrong, that is only so because of a small no of scenes. Most of them are amazing because of the built sets, the ones that let me down were set out of the city.
Now, I’m not a film critic but I find that consistency is a recipe for success. So if you put a bunch of fantasy looking characters with a great story in a vibrant gory background, you can’t just switch and put them, fantasy looking, in a pale, natural background. It looks fake. You either go with vibrant or with pale, you can’t go with both, it’s contradictory and it begs the question… are you not trying to convince us that your story is real? That is the whole point, isn’t it, to make it look as believable as possible. So that begs another question. Was it a mistake? Because if so, it is shamefully sloppy.

Anyway, all the built sets were impressive, I loved the feel to it, the choice of earthy, muddy colors. I loved the make-up, particularly Claire Foy’s and David Suchet’s Adamms Family look. I almost didn’t recognize Poirot there.
I also loved the fact that the director experimented with camera angles, ( that actually reminded me more of the Addams Family) and didn’t make it boring for a second.
If I had to name a favorite scene, it would be the one with Adora stopping the horse. It shows her personality, strength and how frightening she can be. You’ve got to love a strong woman.
To end this hasty review, I really enjoyed Going Postal a lot despite the stuff I found annoying.