My Brother Tom *** (2001, Jenna Harrison, Ben Whishaw, Honeysuckle Weeks) – Classic Movie Review 10,455

Director Dom Rotheroe’s 2001 film My Brother Tom stars Jenna Harrison and Ben Whishaw.

Fine acting smoothes over some of the bumps in the path of this tricky drama about a middle-class teenage girl, Jessica (Jenna Harrison), who has been abused by her neighbour and school teacher Jack (Adrian Rawlins), meeting up with and befriending bullied psychotic teenage boy Tom (Ben Whishaw), on the run from his overbearing dad (Jonathan Hackett), who has sexually abused him.

This difficult, low-budget British film is well meaning, intelligent and challenging, though none too likeable, and patience is required: Robby Müller’s hand-held camera cinematography is clever, and suitably in-your-face but alienating, and the writing of the grown-up characters is noticeably weaker than that for the youngsters.

The main duo Jenna Harrison and Ben Whishaw are very effective and involving, though. Whishaw won a British Independent Film Award as Most Promising Newcomer for his performance.

My Brother Tom is directed by Dom Rotheroe, runs 109 minutes, is made by British Screen, Film Council, Trijbits Productions, WOW Productions and Film Four, is written by Dom Rotheroe and Alison Beeton-Hilder, is shot by Robby Müller, is produced by Carl Schönfeld, is scored by Annabelle Pangborn, and is designed by Isolde Sommerfeldt.

Also in the cast are Honeysuckle Weeks, Michael Erskine, Adrian Rawlins, Judith Scott, Richard Hope, Emily Barrett, Patrick Godfrey and Jonathan Hackett.

It is the third film for Ben Whishaw, following The Trench and The Escort.

Whishaw turned 40 on 14 October 2020. He entered into a civil partnership with Australian composer Mark Bradshaw in August 2012, after meeting on the set of Bright Star in 2009, later saying coming out was a tense experience for him but ‘everyone was surprisingly lovely’.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,455

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