An old man crosses the country just using local buses.
Chuck says:
Tom didn’t use the Google Maps app or any other to plan his trip. He has no cell phone and has managed to survive 90 years without one. No, he has an old-fashioned, hard-to-fold paper map and with a pencil, he’s drawn the route he’ll be taking from his home in Scotland to Land’s End at the tip of England, a trip of 838 miles. His pocket notebook contains the name of each station where he’ll be dropped off and the time to catch the next bus, as well as those of cafes where he hopes to eat and the Bed and Breakfast inns where he’ll stay. Of course, this is all done from memory, as he hasn’t been to these towns since he and his wife moved from Land’s End in 1952. Needless to say, there will be surprises along the way. And as to why Tom is making this trek…well, that’s another story…
Gillies MacKinnon makes no bones about the fact that his film “The Last Bus” is a tearjerker, that his whole intent is to elicit an emotional response from the audience. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, what with the insular, cynical world we live in. Providing a reminder that being empathetic and helpful to others is a maxim that’s always welcome and is much need to repeating these days. And to his credit, MacKinnon doesn’t go about tugging at our heart strings in a cheap way, earning whatever reaction we may have with a sincere approach. And while this journey may meander a bit, a poignant, powerful turn from screen veteran Timothy Spall as Tom anchors the movie so strongly that we’re able to forgive it its faults.
As Tom embarks on his journey, and at key stops along the way, memories are triggered by old sights and sounds, allowing MacKinnon to use flashbacks to reveal key moments in Tom and his wife Mary’s lives. Fleeing some unspoken of tragedy, was see them at various stages, enjoying moments of happiness but seemingly more of pain, their marriage one of quiet contentment and barely contained despair. As more of these snippets from the past occur, the picture becomes a bit clearer as to why Tom has undertaken this long trip; wisely the script by Joe Ainsworth doesn’t reveal all that he’s up to, saving a key piece of information for a moving reveal at the end.
As with most road trips, there are a few bumps in the road Tom must contend with. Falling asleep on one bus causes him to miss another; a confrontation with a bigoted brute leads to him taking a bad fall; an honest mistake gets him thrown off the bus in the middle of nowhere. And yet, at each bad turn, the kindness of strangers provides a safety net for Tom, one that rekindles his, and our faith, in the power of compassion and charity.
To be sure, the film wanders and at ninety minutes, still feels a bit long. Be that as it may, Spall keeps you hooked throughout, the actor providing a quiet sense of dignity and determination that makes us admire and root for Tom. His final moment, a walk on a long, slippery, rocky pier is fraught with peril for the frail 90-year-old. In this moment, MacKinnon shows restraint and thanks to Spall’s sincere approach, all artifice falls away as the endgame of the story is revealed. Yes, like all trips, the film is a bit uneven but, in the end, “Bus” proves to be a movie well worth watching.
3 Stars
