Hallam Foe (2007) Synopsis:
HALLAM FOE is a darkly funny, bittersweet coming of age story about a 17-year-old misfit who likes to watch the world from a tree house in the grounds of his father's house in the Scottish Borders.
Hallam is almost over the sudden death of his mother when he begins to suspect that his beautiful step mother may have had a hand in her death, and it doesn't help that Hallam fancies her rotten. After a confrontation with his step mum, Hallam escapes to Edinburgh. Out of money and out of friends, he finds his tree-top skills well suited to the rooftops of the city, where he lives ferally, attempting to avoid the perils of the streets below and becoming obsessed with a gorgeous girl who happens to look just like his mother…
Hallam Foe (2007) Movie Review:
This remarkable Scottish drama underscores its charming story with such an unsettling tone that it often feels like a thriller. It also affirms the raw talents of both David Mackenzie (Young Adam) and Jamie Bell (who's come a long way since Billy Elliot).
In the Scottish highlands, Hallam Foe (Bell) is a troubled 17-year-old running wild on the family estate. He blames his mother's tragic death on his new stepmother (Forlani), previously a secretary to his dad (Hinds). But a nasty confrontation with her sends Hallam running to Edinburgh. He blags his way into a job in a hotel kitchen, so he can be near personnel officer Kate (Myles), who looks rather a lot like his mother. And as he watches her every move, he can hardly believe that she actually notices him too.
Hallam is such a disturbed young man that it's hard to sympathise with him. He's voyeuristic to the point of being a stalker, and we're really not sure what he might be capable of doing if pushed. He's fiercely savvy, quickly getting the best of the hotel manager (Sives) who corners him. But he's also deeply naive and vulnerable; we begin to understand the cause of his obsessions, and we start feeling his inner turmoil.
All of this hinges on Bell, who delivers a fascinatingly rounded character. Hallam is terrifying and funny, creepy and sweet, and this jarring complexity is thoroughly unlike most movie characters simply because it's so real. Bell shines in the role, and excels in scenes that are profoundly heartbreaking and joyful. Myles is also good as a finely shaded character who refuses to be what Hallam expects her to be. And maybe that's even better.
Mackenzie tells the story with lush photography, intelligent editing and a gorgeous song score, getting deep into Hallam's inner world and playing on the Hamlet parallels. He also keeps us off balance with hints that Hallam has psychotic tendencies, and that other characters are also capable of violence. In that sense, the film is a little too dark at times, piling on the irascible dialog and cat-and-mouse subplots. But it's also a gripping and beautifully subtle examination of human interaction.
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Hallam Foe (2007) review written by: Rich Cline
12th October, 2008 
