Franklyn - Probably not as clever as it wants to be, but not bad anyway

I've watched `Franklyn' twice now. The first time I really liked it. The second time, I'm not so impressed. I think it was down to me knowing what was happening even earlier than I had originally.

It's an odd piece about two stories running parallel to each other. Nothing that original you might say, but one story is set in a clearly futuristic, dystopian world while the other is simply present day London. You may wonder how exactly these two worlds are connected. Then you kind of figure it out yourself (probably about midway) and the film then continues as if you're still in the dark.

Some bits of it are very good - Ryan Phillipe is about the best actor by far who does his best to life what - sometimes - is a bit of a flat script. If you like weird and dark futuristic worlds, you'll like his story best. However, his parts are almost like an action film, whereas the London bits are more like your basic melodrama, leaving the viewer feeling a little off balance.

There is definitely an interesting story here (and made more interesting the way it's told). However, I understand that it was originally a SHORT story. That explains a lot. It does feel like it's been dragged out a bit. I can see Franklyn definitely finding an audience. You have to be into lesser-known movies that deliberately try something different. However, I can also see as many people finding it boring, incomprehensible and worthless. Research it carefully before you invest your hour and a half in this film.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that