Review: Everywhere & Nowhere
Everywhere And Nowhere Everywhere & Nowhere. Where do I start? Well, the marketing clearly wants us to focus on the fact that it’s directed by Menhaj Huda of Kidulthood fame. Now, we clearly know that Huda is a very capable director however that may only be the case when he has a sterling script on his hands, and unfortunately for him Everywhere & Nowhere is far from that.
It is supposed to chronicle the struggle of our British Asian lead, played by the undoubtedly talented James Floyd, in balancing his family’s traditions and his own desire’s to be a DJ. It is supposed to show a clash between cultures but instead just dances around the subject while trying to weave supporting stories into the main action which lead to no fruition. The subject matter is dated and the fact that it isn't approached in a fresh way just works against it. It becomes a confusing mish mash of a story where nothing is resolved.
Floyd’s character arc is underdeveloped, we understand the characters plight but in no way is he pushed forward in the narrative. What was good was the story of Zaf (Adam Deacon) and his father played by the legendary Saeed Jaffrey but this ends up being buried under a bucket load of unnecessary narrative threads like that of Ash and ‘girlfriend’ Bella (how they become a couple is beyond my understanding). Performances are mixed, while the lead does his best to carry a badly written character and the supporting cast also put in a great effort (kudos to Deacon, Elyes Gabel and Neet Mohan) it is noticeable that Katia Winter, Shivani Ghai and Simon Webbe are simply not likeable and end up being irritating. A major flaw with the film is that we don’t care about the characters, an exception for Zaf and his father.
The DJ angle and the music should have been a way to cleverly entwine a good story which raises the issues that British Asians face (or used to face, I found it slightly dated myself but as my friend reassured me, ‘it probably still happens, some parents are strict and sh*t’) but instead we are just treated to a muddle of chaos and confusion as well as the biggest anti-climax of an ending I have seen. Unsatisfying.
The music is good though.
