REVIEW: RYE LANE

3.5/5

The Love End Theory. 

82 Mins. Starring: David Jonsson & Vivian Oparah. Director: Raine Allen-Miller. 

Catch her in the Rye. 'She's Gotta Have It' like the dynamics of a Spike Lee debut, as the first film from revolutionary talent Raine Allen-Miller mixes all that with a Richard Linklater 'Before' trilogy Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy walk through from 'Sunrise' to 'Sunset'. Allen-Miller calls '12 Years A Slave', 'Shame' and 'Widows' great British directing giant like his name Steve McQueen "a hero" (and we really don't need to put this truth in quotation), and takes inspiration from Channel 4's legendary 'Peep Show', as a close-up and personal frame of reference for this BBC Film. This is London and the love of 'Rye Lane' in a romantic comedy that flips the script on the romcom genre and puts said street on the lover's lane map like Julia Roberts and some "daft prick" in 'Notting Hill'. Just kidding. We love you, Hugh. Even in last week's 'Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves'. 

This Fox Searchlight picture now finds the light of day and way on Disney Plus like the 'Boston Strangler' before it and the May to December 'Empire Of Light' to come this April. Taking to the Big Smoke streets of Brixton brilliance for The Academy. Twisting and turning in plot points and genre tropes, bending it around Peckham. There's an art gallery opening (and the same notion in closing for an exhibit that really makes an ass of you) that lets Raine reign supreme like a perfect Prince tribute in classic cinematography set for screens in cinemas like The Barbican...FACT! There's also a tribute to the romcom finale with a perfect twist for the best thing on the Thames since 'Harry Potter' made that bridge famous and top gun Tom Cruise ran the entire length before rooftop-to-rooftop breaking his ankle and then continuing to run (mission: possible) like only this maverick can. 

But for all the tricks of the trade that now points to the future of UK directing being on Miller time, this film is more than the frames, or the colour and shape of young adulthood movies to come. This is more than the pissing contest at the school's urinals. Instead, it's a tale of two jilted lovers finding sweet solace in each other as they navigate their neighbourhoods and the nuances of love and life after their dreams become deferred like the love they just thought would last. And just wait until it tells you your truth (just live with it). Forever doesn't seem to be on the cards these days in our swipe through age, but these two give us something we can hold on to like the back of a moped. West End and BBC Two and HBO 'Industry' star David Jonsson and Off West End and BBC Three 'Doctor Who' spin-off ('Class') sensation Vivian Oparah light up the screen like London's Piccadilly Circus in Idris Elba's 'Luther's' 'Fallen Sun' movie on Netflix...but without all the human carnage (although there is some in the dating game). This is their movie. And their bold and beautiful breakout...together. 

Chance encounters of a close kind don't get much better than this big-three of Jonsson, Oparah and Allen-Miller. Live in living colour like the pastel orange that adorns this picture's promotional poster or the palettes used in this artistic gem, disguised as just another walk and play in the park. A Sundance Film Festival favourite with critical acclaim, you'll want to plug into these headphones and this original direction fantasy, even if you don't want the AUX lead for your phone. It's all good, my friend. Backstreet and Shania would shuffle on mine. No shame. All pride. But I won't sign my name to referring to the legendary Terence Trent D'Arby as cheesy. From quests to reclaim tribe's best album, to a soundtrack that will stick in your earworm like a q-tip (or as we Brits say it, "cotton bud"), this film sings. Especially when it wins like a karaoke night that will call for the microphones now 'Rye Lane' finds a streaming home in Japan and the rest of the world (for some reason, my stream was set to German). 'Rye' goes down sweetly and smoothly like the whiskey of the same name. A love letter to both London and the hearts that know what it takes to reach the end of the road, this afternoon stroll is in its own lane. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'She's Gotta Have It', 'Before Sunset', 'Notting Hill'.