WAITING ROOM/WORTH WAITING FOR

The East London Fest just ended and included the discovery of a British gem for local critic Pete Sherlock.

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The Festival opened with The Waiting Room, a gushingly romantic film with a telling streak of honestly and insight directed by first timer Roger Goldby.

Sherlock writes: "There is a scene in The Waiting Room in which a kind-hearted carer, played by Ralf Little, bumps into one of his senile patients making a daily trip to Wandsworth Common train station.

Don’t wait too long Rog, Little advises his elderly charge, who sits on the station platform in autumnal south London and waits in vain for his dead wife to arrive on the next train.

Little’s words go straight to the heart of director Roger Goldby’s excellent debut feature, which is full of characters unable to make the decision to change their life in some way.

Anne-Marie Duff is one of them, caught up in a damaging affair with her best friend’s husband, while Little himself has outgrown his relationship with long-term girlfriend Sarah but is reluctant to face up to his feelings.

Things finally get moving when Duff and Little have a chance encounter on the station platform.

Essentially a love-at-first sight movie, The Waiting Room is gushingly romantic at times and unashamedly so. But its honest portrayal of sad characters losing their way in life is far more convincing than most of its genre.

An intelligent drama stripped of Richard Curtis rom/com excesses, The Waiting Room is a gentle film with understated performances, realistic dialogue and a warm-hearted message.

Goldby wrote the script eight years ago but the project was shelved while his television work took off. It had its UK premiere at the Edinburgh Festival last year, and finally came to London last week, where it received warm applause from the audience at Rich Mix cinema in Bethnal Green, the premiere for the eight-day East London Film Festival.

Afterwards, Goldby told guests he was in a similar emotional state as some of his characters when he wrote the script. 'I was in a difficult place with regards to relationships … yes, the whole thing … I wanted to meet the right person and wondered whether I ever would.'

The microbudget feature was finally filmed over five weeks in south London in the autumn of 2006. 'I always knew the budget would not be a problem in terms of making it good or not,' he said.

'We pulled together the most wonderful cast. Anne Marie and Ralf brought it to life more than I could ever have imagined.'

'It could have crucified because it could have been dry and maudlin but it has an edge and it’s important to me that it had humanity at the heart of it. We need to be able to connect with the circumstances, which is what I thought these guys did completely.'

'We had a brief amount of rehearsal. Ralf got together with Anne-Marie and we would talk and maybe go through scenes but I didn’t want to over-read stuff.'

'I genuinely feel lucky because the actors got involved because they believe in it and people of the calibre of Anne-Marie and Ralf don’t tend to do things they might not like.'

Little seems particularly at home as affable Ralf, sweet-natured but unable to confront the fact his long-term relationship is failing.

Speaking about his role, Little said he was attracted by the way the characters spoke like real people. It’s very rare to see that anyone would attempt a feature film of that length with that kind of dialogue.

The fresh script, weighted with silences, is very close to natural dialogue. 'It like reading a series of conversations with one of my exes,' admitted Little. 'It read like real people, real human beings and I think it’s very rare to see that, in particular with a script.'

One scene has Stephen unable to do anything other than feign sleep when Sarah starts a late-night talk about starting a family. It speaks volumes about the state of their relationship when he finally opens his eyes and stares blankly into the darkness of the bedroom.

'Most relationships do not fail because one of us has an affair,' he said. 'It does not work because sometimes relationships don’t just work, which is very difficult to show. It’s a unifying theme that goes across the world whether you are from the smallest village in Tanzania or Balham.'

'It’s not a class thing, it’s not a race thing, it’s a film about relationships. Relationships are the same the world over.'

The film is not just about Little and Duff. There are other good performances including an unctuous Rupert Graves as Duff’s ditched lover, and dignified Phyllida Law as Little’s dying patient.

Though it never soars beyond a brilliantly gritty feature-length episode of some of the best TV drama, it is always charming, and you can forgive the occasional gushy lurch into Richard Curtis territory.

Goldby has made a grown-up romance in a fairytale south London with a heart-warming message: "Sometimes in life you find yourself stuck in a waiting room, just make sure you don’t wait too long."

Watch the trailer for The Waiting Room.

Copyright Pete Sherlock.

Posted April 28, 2008.