I kind of loved A Long Way Down in spite its flaws. A Long Way Down captured how disparate people can form cohesive bonds and somehow bridge his or her individual pain by being together. I have a weakness for Nick Hornby’s writing, and so far, Nick Hornby adaptations rarely disappoint me. They seem to capture a realistic emotional complexity that would be contradictory or dissonant in any other context. I’m not saying that A Long Way Down successfully captures the experiences of people who were suicidal–I have no idea if it does and maybe suicide is used as a cheap plot device, but in its quiet moments and individual portraits of the characters, it captured something real and relatable. A Long Way Down moved me. I think the actors and the soundtrack, especially Toni Collette and Sam Neill, managed to elevate some schmaltzy heavy-handed notes into something more. I think that Pierce Brosnan missed his calling as a star in films like this and Evelyn-he shines in treacly.
Side Note: Favorite Nick Hornby adaptations in order of love to like: 1. High Fidelity, 2. About A Boy, 3. An Education, 4, A Long Way Down, 5. Fever Pitch with Colin Firth.