Criticism of Harold Fry’s Improbable Pilgrimage

Think British cinema and the face of Jim Broadbent might come to mind pretty quickly. From one of Mike Leigh’s pillars a Potter AND Paddington Through Bridget Jones, has quietly become one of the UK’s most exported faces. After playing the lead in the captivating Ealing-style comedy 2022 The Duke opposite Helen Mirren, he is paired with Penelope Wilton in another silly British affair aimed at a senior audience: The Improbable Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Contrary to The DukeHowever, Harold Fry is not based on an extraordinary true story, but on a beloved bestselling novel by Rachel Joyce (who also adapted it for the big screen).

Harold de Broadbent embarks, to his wife’s dismay, in his hopelessly inadequate deck shoes, on this secular but spiritual mission from Devon to Berwick-Upon-Tweed to keep Queenie Hennessey alive. Inevitably, the people he meets along the way change him forever, from the Slovak cleaner who binds up his bleeding feet to the idealistic teenager who reminds him of his estranged son. He accidentally goes viral and, like Forrest Gump, inspires a movement of followers who keep him going. Meanwhile, Maureen is angry and heartbroken, overshadowed by her sudden devotion to Queenie.

Director Hettie Macdonald made her mark in 1996 with the queer classic Beautiful thing and recently directed half the episodes of normal people. Buoyed by solid performances from Broadbent and Wilton, he barely manages to deliver a disgustingly sentimental narrative and a plot in which every character is unrealistically directed (since when does a British character openly express their feelings?). Cinematographer Kate McCullough (the quiet girl) also does his best to keep things grounded, chasing Harold over highways and hills, and infuses his traumatic memories of his son with a nightmarish quality thanks to the spotlight that illuminates these flashbacks. It’s not subtle, but Harold Fry handles some pathetic elements when he’s not trying so hard to strike a chord.