'Never Let Me Go' trailer (Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan)

Amazing novel, but I don't know if I could handle seeing it on film. For what it's worth, that trailer looks exactly the way I pictured the setting and characters.

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I'm so excited for this. I just read the novel a few months ago, and it's still my favorite book I've read in a long time. I was a little skeptical about seeing it onscreen, but the casting seems pitch-perfect and the preview has me totally on board.

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"Sometimes an artist’s instrument is so sharp that many of the viewers will not feel the incision, either on the surface nor in its unusual depth. Such is what you’ll find in Mark Romanek’s new film, Never Let Me Go.

The story sounds like genre, but it is uninterested in the elements that drive genre. It is not only a deconstruction; it seeks to find the true universality in what, in the past, has been a very specific, gimmicky idea. And it succeeds without reserve."

(If you don't know what the premise of this movie is, and you don't want to know before you see it, don't read the rest of this review.)
http://moviecitynews.com/2010/09/review-never-let-me-go/

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I love Keira Knightley and I am glad she's doing a film that does not take place in the OLD DAYS of England. She was amazing in "Pride and Prejudice" and "The Duchess" but some people say that she's not a diverse actress and she plays the same kind of roles. Even her character in "Pirates of the Caribbean" was also someone who would wear corsettes. It's nice to see her do something different.

Updated On: 9/5/10 at 03:17 PM

It's playing in limited release now in New York, Chicago, L.A., and a few other places. Anyone check it out yet?

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I've seen this twice now--at the Toronto film festival and at the regular theatres, and really like it. Haven't read the book, so the experience was different the first time (when I wasn't aware of the special world of the story) and the second time (when I could understand the meaning and implications of what characters were saying and doing--things which are slightly mysterious to someone who doesn't know the story).

Beautiful film to look at. Well written, well acted. Thoughtful. Contemplative. Sombre. Moving. I did not find it depressing, as some do (a young woman in the theatre behind me was literally bawling at the end of the film, claiming it was "so depressing"). I think it's sad, perhaps, but as Kathy H. (Carey Mulligan) says near the end (SLIGHT SPOILER), "We all complete." So true. And therefore, not depressing at all. We must make the most of our lives for whatever time we have. And love and life and sacrifice and duty and missed opportunities are all just a part of life.

I really don't know why "Never Let Me Go" is not getting more mention as an Oscar nominee for Best Picture (esp. with the expanded 10 nominees). I think it's better than Black Swan or The Social Network or Inception, for example, and right there with The King's Speech and my personal favorite of the season so far, 127 Hours.

Don't read too many reviews if you are planning to see the film. (Example, Roger Ebert, who has read the book, gives away way too much info in his 4 star review of NLMG.) Trust me, it's good. It's best not to know too much going in. Savor the beauty and the sadness of life, as revealed in the film.

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Updated On: 10/5/10 at 07:52 PM

I saw it a few nights ago and honestly it didn't do anything for me. I've never read the books, but I thought that the plot was very muddled and that the movie have an incredibly weak screenplay. I though that the movie was visually very nice to look at, and that Carey Mulligan gave one hell of a performance, but it wasn't enough to save an otherwise boring movie. I was expecting much more from Andrew Garfield, but to be honest I didn't think his role was all that well written, and the same goes for Keira Knightly.

I really really wanted to like it, but by the end I was left very unimpressed which is a real shame because it did have so much potential and the trailer looked amazing.

I've seen the film about five times now (I teach the novel, and sometimes show the film in my class) and I think it's absolutely perfect. One of the best adaptations I've ever seen. I'm vaguely acquainted with one of the film's producers, and he told me that Kazou Ishiguro told him that he couldn't imagine his work being done better justice on film.

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I read the book, but it was so depressing in some ways that I could not bring myself to see the movie.

For some reason, the whole concept just devastated me.

I finally reached a place where I could sit down and watch the film and it was EXACTLY how I imagined it from reading the book. It's a shame it was forgotten during awards season as it was worthy of so many nominations: direction, cinematography, performances, and screenplay. The only negative I can find is that perhaps it may seem somewhat incomplete if you haven't read the novel. Like strummergirl mentioned, it was all about the POV which is obviously more easy to express in a novel than on the screen without too much intrusion of voice-over narration.

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Jon, Rick Astley's song is "Never Gonna Give You Up".

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