Taglines: Life is looking up.
Based on the acclaimed novel by Nick Hornby, A Long Way Down stars Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Aaron Paul and Imogen Poots as four strangers who happen to meet on the roof of a London building on New Year’s Eve each with the intent of committing suicide. Their plans for death in solitude are ruined so they mutually agree to call off their plans for six weeks, forming an unconventional, dysfunctional family and searching together for the reasons to keep on living.
Martin Sharp is contemplating suicide on New Year’s Eve on the roof of the Toppers Building, high above London’s streets. He is interrupted by a woman, Maureen, who has the same fate in mind. She shyly offers to wait her turn, until two other strangers, a young woman named Jess and a pizza deliverer called J.J., also turn up.
Martin is recognized by the others, having been a popular television personality before going to prison for a relationship with a girl who turned out to be 15. After talking things over, the four strangers form a pact, vowing to wait at least until Valentine’s Day before taking their lives.
Maureen has a disabled son she adores, but little life beyond that herself. Jess is the daughter of a politician and their relationship is strained. J.J. is an American who once played in a band, but while his three new acquaintances are suicidally depressed, he is terminally ill with cancer.
To profit from misfortune, Martin hatches a scheme that makes them the talk of London, claiming their mass suicide was interrupted by a vision. They end up on his old TV chat show, where Martin’s former co-host Penny makes her guests feel humiliated and even more depressed.
The four go off to a vacation resort to get away from London’s attention. They enjoy each other’s company, at least until a confession by one of them and the intervention of a woman named Kathy drives them apart. On Valentine’s Day, all four end up back in London on the very same rooftop.
A Long Way Down
Directed by: Pascal Chaumeil
Starring: Imogen Poots, Aaron Paul, Rosamund Pike, Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Sam Neill, Tuppence Middleton
Screenplay by: Jack Thorne
Production Design by: Chris Oddy
Cinematography by: Ben Davis
Film Editing by: Chris Gill, Barney Pilling
Costume Design by: Odile Dicks-Mireaux
Set Decoration by: Kate Guyan
Music by: Dario Marianelli
MPAA Rating: R for language.
Studio: Magnolia Pictures, BBC Films
Release Date: July 11, 2014
Visits: 173
