Having just returned from the cinema, here is my long, boring Belfast review. Please skip if you don't want to wade through it. I totally understand.
I wanted to see this film so badly. All the buzz around it, the Van Morrison soundtrack (I'm a massive fan). I'm also Welsh with an Irish Grandmother, so the Celtic sensibilities are strong. I thought I was going to be blown away by it. I wasn't.
Belfast was an enjoyable watch. I think it would probably be a much more enjoyable watch on a random Sunday afternoon in rainy, cold November when it turned up on BBC or Film4 or somewhere. You stumble across it and it just fits the time you are watching, armchair, rain outside, a roast dinner inside you and you'd think what a lovely film. But as a cinematic event ... it would be a 6 or 7 out of 10 for me.
In terms of cinematography there were moments of genius. But for the most part it felt like a sequence of set pieces. It seemed to lack continuity somehow and there were characters who could have been so much more integral to the story but who were nothing more than pop-ups.
Using Van Morrison as the soundtrack was inspired but every track was cut short. Just as music and visuals were starting to work together perfectly they'd fade out the track and that would be the end of that. A verse, a chorus, finished and onto the next frame.
It was a good film, a well made film and it featured some wonderful acting from the cast. Do I think it's Oscar worthy? Sorry but I don't.
I came away feeling slightly disappointed and underwhelmed and I wanted to love it so much.