Hidden Gems: James McAvoy

Barely scraped through with this month. Reason? I realised on Friday that the end of the month was approaching and I hadn’t even thought about Hidden Gems. Luckily I had the weekend off so I was able to watch all three movies in 2 days. All for James McAvoy – the charming Scottish man who I’ve always liked. Will the three unseen movies from his filmography be all worth it? We shall see.

WHY JAMES MCAVOY?

James McAvoy is present in a lot of my favourites. He is also the most charming man in real life, evident in his interviews. Especially when he’s on Graham Norton, he just shines and has the most wonderful presence. That comes across in many of his movies too, if the script allows it. And James is quite versatile too which makes his filmography quite a ride.

STATISTICS

Letterboxd has 49 projects under James McAvoy of which I took out 4 (one special, two unreleased, one theatre production) and was left with 45 movies. Out of those I had seen 15 already which is not the best.

So I’ve seen 15 of James’ performances and these are my favourites: Split, Wanted, Atonement, Aomic Blonde and Penelope. 

I’ve also seen Deadpool 2, IT: Chapter Two, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Apocalypse, Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Filth, Gnomeo and Juliet, Becoming Jane and Wimbledon.

My picks for the Hidden Gems challenge were random and I ended up watching: Sumbergence (2017), Welcome to the Punch (2013) and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2013).

SUBMERGENCE (2017)

What a bland attempt at a romance movie? I guess it’s a romance in a way but it turns dramatic and then it just loses its aim completely. James here is tortured most of the movie, Alicia Vikander is again as bland as she usually is. It’s just her face that gives me no emotional response and it’s fine for some roles. Here she needed to be… more, and she wasn’t. As this movie combines spy stuff with science stuff and sprinkles romance on it, I’m very confused about where this movie stands.

So frankly I’m not surprised this one completely flew past me. It came out in 2017 but I have no recollection of it, I don’t even remember any of promotion for this. Not surprised either, it’s not a standout movie in one bit.

WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (2013)

Even though this one is directed by the same guy who did Layer Cake, a movie I watched for Tom Hardy’s Hidden Gems, it’s not as good. It is, ironically, a layered movie and has many twists but it just never caught my attention. James and Mark Strong are good hear but the source material isn’t supporting them.

This was were I was also slowly losing any hope in James McAvoy’s Hidden Gems month. Two very bland movies that failed to capture my attention – did I truly avoid these movies for a reason or was I just missing something. Granted I’ve been all over the place mentally this month but that’s no excuse.

Before I get to my final pick here is Allie from Often Off Topic! Allie’s May was all about Margot Robbie. Read about her hidden gems month RIGHT HERE.

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELEANOR RIGBY: HIM (2013)

Part of me didn’t want to do this without watching the Her version but I just ran out of time. So currently the movie is unfinished for me. I couldn’t bring myself to watch the Their version because I heard it was originally meant to be just Him and Her. So James McAvoy is him of course and Jessica Chastain is Her. The movie starts off with a married couple having problems, she then disappears. It’s evident that something very tragic has happened and it has torn them apart. The movie, His version, follows his journey through their marriage ending or at leas trying to find the way back to each other.

This one was the best of the bunch but also it <was the saddest. I wish I had already watched Her because I feel like only then will this movie feel complete. As of now, it feels incomplete and that’s a shame. But also I love the idea of two versions of the same story, it makes sense, as we are all different as humans and we go through things differently. To see both sides of the same coin, the same marriage and the tragedy, is genius.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The first two movies almost broke me as I was just not ready for all that blandness. There’s just no entertainment and since I’m not watching a lot of movies these days, I want the ones I see to be at least entertaining. Granted, all the movies I seem to be watching aren’t good but there’s a certain element to them hat keeps me at least glued to the screen. Two of the three of James McAvoy’s Hidden Gems didn’t.

Third movie is a tricky one to pinpoint as it’s good but clearly needs a second movie to understand better. As a concept I love it, as a separate movie it simply doesn’t work. Currently not a gem BUT if I do end up watching Her version I might pump it up to a gem (as a whole).

Previously on Hidden Gems – KEIRA KNIGHTLEY

Next up on Hidden Gems – RACHEL WEISZ