Take this waltz

 The 'Rom-Com'. Perhaps the most downtrodden film genre ever to bare our screens with most, if not all concepts being murdered by the continuous manufacture of countless 'tween' dramas and bigoted quirky comedies. It takes a substantial amount of effort to be noticed in such a genre frequently slammed by critics and whilst Take this waltz may bare a hugely pretentious exterior title it proves to differentiate itself from the ever growing crowd being gorgeously alluring with the absence of suspected whimsicality.

 Displaying a schmaltzy facade, Take this waltz doesn't aid itself in the originality category telling the story of a happily married woman, Margot, (Michelle Williams) who falls for an artist (Luke Kirby) living across the street. This narrative is lovingly pieced together in the opening half an hour, introducing the audience to the life of Margot and as we follow her noticeably jolly yet oddly tedious lifestyle. Following a clearly defined plot for the most part it does tend to lose it's way in the opening hour or so proving to become mighty bland as it procrastinates to a seemingly non existent goal. However once the films processed the fact that she's a 'lost soul' it eventually finds it's grove boasting a truly riveting narrative, mainly due to the terrific performances of the polished cast led by Michelle Williams. The almost sociopathic performance of the deranged character of Margot was excellently delivered with pure emotion and drive supplying the films vital pragmatic punch. Following in suite was the equally excellent role of Seth Rogan, proving that he can deliver outside of his stereotypical role of 'comedy stoner', providing the loving relatable soul that this film bases a majority of it's messages on.  The inconsistencies of the opening hour do continue in a minimalistic form, becoming prominent on occasion,  most notably the bizarre sexual undertones of the concluding half hour are slightly unnecessary detracting from the rich depth of the story at hand.

 Aside from the tendencies to slip in and out of coherency  Take this waltz largely coagulates fantastically providing some truly beautiful scenes that display the complicity of love and happiness. This is as much a study as it is a piece of entertainment with obvious deeper undertones present throughout. It's true triumph is in the fact that it takes a rusty, delirious narrative and transforms it into something powerful and heartfelt.

7.5/10- A film with much more substance, feeling and originality than initially expected, despite it's frequent tonal issues.

Calum Russell