23 Walks + Q&A

LondonNet Film Review
23 Walks (12A)

Romance strolls casually into view in a gently paced drama written and directed by Paul Morrison, which explores vacillations of the heart for sexagenarian dog owners who have been dealt losing hands in love. Filmed on location in London and Hertfordshire, 23 Walks initially adheres to the promise of its title, captioning successive strolls on which the characters trade anecdotes and seek comfort. There is a pleasing rhythm to dialogue in Morrison’s script and he occasionally mines a poetic one-liner during heart to hearts like when one of the 60-somethings ruminates on dealing with grief: “It’s best to invite it in, make it your friend…”

Stand-up comedian Dave Johns, so magnificent in Ken Loach’s award-winning film I, Daniel Blake, and Alison Steadman bring these free-flowing confessionals to life with sincerity and conviction, hinting at the pain that could bind their lonely singletons. When Morrison eventually discloses the sources of their anguish, his film surrenders some of its easy-going charm and plausibility to contrivance and emotional manipulation, including an impromptu rendition of Consuelo Velazquez’s swooning bolero Besame Mucho during a misty morning stroll.

Mental health nurse Dave (Johns) is enjoying a walk with his five-year-old German Shepherd rescue dog Tilly when he encounters health centre receptionist Fern (Steadman) and her spirited Yorkshire Terrier in a leafy lane. Fern instinctively grabs her pride and joy. “Wouldn’t have hurt to have put him on a lead,” she snaps as they pass. Dave and Fern are creatures of habit and repeatedly cross paths. He introduces her to the splendour of King George’s Field in north London and suggests they walk together. “It’s a free country,” she responds. Dave slowly dismantles Fern’s emotional defences and sows the seeds of friendship.

He reveals that he lost his wife Marcy (Marsha Millar) and has two children – a gay son in Australia and a daughter Donna (Natalie Simpson), who has two adorable children. She confesses a glittering past as a member of The Tiller Girls at the London Palladium and confides that her second husband Jimmy (Graham Cole) recently traded her in “for a younger model”. When Fern mentions that she is due to attend her daughter’s wedding in the Canary Islands, enthusiastic linguist Dave suggests he teach her basic Spanish to impress the groom’s family.

23 Walks is an amiable travelling companion, flecked with warmth and good humour. Johns and Steadman deliver strong performances and their pleasantly simmering on-screen chemistry smooths some of the script’s deep wrinkles when Dave and Fern grapple for the right words. Four-legged co-stars quietly scene-steal and tug our heartstrings when the spectre of tragedy saunters through the undergrowth of the film’s tangled second half.

– Jo Planter