Jamie Bell and Annette Bening star in this 80s-set romantic drama about fledgling Liverpudlian actor Peter Turner and his romance with (Old) Hollywood siren Gloria Grahame, based on Turner’s memoir. Their age-gap relationship is revealed in retrospect, when Grahame falls ill during a run in a play and re-enters Turner’s life. An overwrought score pushes the film into the territory of melodrama, but mostly it works, with tender performances from the two leads. Bell is particularly good as the devoted Turner, all vulnerable, searching gaze and eyes glossy with emotion, whether disco-dancing with Bening’s sensual, petulant Grahame or gently burping her in bed.
