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Such a frustrating disappointment

Absolutely brilliant

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

"Felicia's Journey" is an example of the long-standing tradition of "kitchen sink" realism in the British cinema. Felicia, a teenage girl from a rural part of the Irish Republic, travels to Birmingham to find her boyfriend Johnny, who she believes works in a lawnmower factory. (In fact, Johnny has joined the British Army, but wants to keep this a secret, as the part of Ireland he comes from is a hotbed of Republican sentiment). Felicia (who, it transpires, is pregnant by Johnny) is befriended by a middle-aged man named Joe Hilditch, who works as a factory catering manager. At first Hilditch seems kindly and helpful, but it soon becomes clear that there may be sinister motives behind his interest in Felicia. In a series of flashbacks we learn of Felicia's life in Ireland and her relationship with her strict, moralistic father, and of Hilditch's own past. We learn that he is the son of Gala, a famous television chef from the 1950s. He is a curiously old-fashioned character; he regularly watches his mother's old black-and-white programmes, lives in her old house, which does not appear to have been redecorated or refurnished for about forty years, and drives an old Morris Minor which he refers to by the antiquated slang term "jalopy". (Even when it was current slang, "jalopy", meaning an old and dilapidated car, was primarily an Americanism, little used in Britain). He appears to have inherited not only his mother's house but also her culinary skills, cooking himself sumptuous meals, which makes one owner why he is not working in a smart restaurant or hotel rather than a factory canteen. As is common in social-realist cinema, the film paints a bleak picture of the industrial landscapes of Birmingham. Its picture of rural Ireland, however, is equally bleak, about as far from the sentimental "Ballykissangel" image as one can get, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that the film was based on a novel by an Irish writer, William Trevor, who also wrote the screenplay. The Irish Republic we see here is a grim, cheerless place, dominated by a sectarian religiosity and bitter memories of who did what to whom in the 1920s, a place where a father can call his daughter a "whore" to her face if he disapproves of her choice of boyfriend.The brightest thing about this picture was the performance of the nineteen-year-old Elaine Cassidy as the determined if naïve young Felicia; I am surprised not to have heard more of her in the years since 1999. Bob Hoskins is suitably creepy and sinister as Hilditch, whom we first assume to be a sexual predator until we learn that he is in fact something far worse. There are, however, some things about his character that do not ring true. His strong working-class Brummie accent, for example, does not seem right on the lips of a man who lives in a large arts-and-crafts mansion and who, as the son of a wealthy celebrity, would doubtless have enjoyed a privileged education. Like a number of actors with a skill for reproducing various regional accents, Hoskins seems to enjoy showing off that skill even when the accent in question would not be entirely appropriate to his character. (I remember another film where he did a convincing imitation of a New York accent, which would have been fine had his character actually been from New York rather than California). More importantly- and here the fault lies more with the script than with the actor- we never really understand exactly what has happened to turn Hilditch into a serial killer, even though the idea of narrating part of his backstory was presumably to give us an insight into his psychology. If the implication was supposed to be that his eccentric mother, who used him as a sort of prop on her cookery shows, had left him with a hatred of women, this needed to be spelled out much more clearly. The film seems to have been intended as a psychological study- it is too slow-moving to work as a thriller- but is too mystifying really to work as such. The film has its points of interest, but overall it is one I found rather unsatisfactory. 5/10

Atom Egoyan's film Felicia's Journey takes various issues into its hands by telling the story of a young Irish girl looking for her Irish boyfriend who joined the British army. Her father strongly disapproves of this relationship and in the end abandons her completely. She goes to England, by herself, relying on the kindness of a middle aged chef Joe,(Bob Hoskins), in order find her boyfriend. Joe's obsession is watching an old show with an eccentric French cook, and copying her complicated recipes. He is slowly unmasked as a serial stalker of vulnerable young women, that were in similar cases of Felicia's.The film is set in a very grim and grey-clouded world where parents systematically abuse, neglect, disown or molest their children, or simply try to control their children like puppets and as a result, they either get killed or become killers. Joe's mother, the French cook, basically failed as a mother by neglecting him and abused him by shoving stuffing in his mouth when he made a mistake while helping her on her TV show. Joe's victims seem to come from all sorts of backgrounds, all with one similarity, they come from a hard family lives. Joe is ultimately a victim like Felicia and all those who have been left to fend for themselves in a harsh and cruel world, which is the sad case of reality in many families around the world.The director does the right thing in concentrating on the character's emotions rather than pull the same old boring thriller/horror situations you find in so many American movies. Many films rely on the action, rather than the humanity of characters, which is why so many of the films nowadays are unfortunately just plain weak.

Joe Hilditch, the head chef for an industrial complex, is a remarkable cook. He runs the kitchen with a sense of propriety, striving to do the best job he can do. At his home, we watch him tuned to a television running black and white tapes following the intricate recipes showcasing Gala, a French cook. The tapes, evidently, are from a somewhat distant past. Joe follows the recipes exactly; he loves eating the creations inspired by Gala.Felicia, a young Irish girl, is seen arriving in England. She is looking for Johnny Lysaght, her boyfriend, that according to her father, has decided to go to England to join the British army, something her old man holds against him because of a natural dislike for anything from the neighbor country. Felicity defies her father to go looking for Johnny. Fate brings Joe and Felicia together in such a strange way, she will be changed forever.In flashbacks from the tapes Joe watches, we realize his relation to the television gourmet cooking lady. Not only that, but Joe is also fond of videotaping young women he becomes in contact with. Felicia, who has no clue as to what is going around her, is oblivious to Joe's real intentions. Sadly, the story turns into something one sees coming, hoping Felicia is spared a terrible end.Atom Egoyan, who adapted the original material, made a wonderful transfer of the novel to the screen. As he accomplished with "The Sweet Hereafter", Mr. Egoyan, shows an affinity to the William Trevor's text in a film that stays in one's memory because of his marvelous take on the characters of the book. He remains true to the original work, expanding it for the big screen in a satisfying film.Bo Hoskins has one of the opportunities of his career impersonating Joe Hilditch. As a matter of fact, the young actor chosen to impersonate the young Joe, bears an uncanny resemblance with the actor. Elaine Cassidy makes a wonderful Felicia, the young woman that does not have any idea of what she is getting into. Arsenee Khanjian, does a tremendous contribution as Gala, the television master cook whose program has been kept for posterity.Atom Egoyan, one of the best Canadian filmmakers gets better with every new project he becomes involved in.

I came to "Felicia's Journey" without advance knowledge of the film. The Verizon FiOS program information describes it simply as, "A young woman leaves rural Ireland to search for the man who got her pregnant." It also listed two cast members: Bob Hoskins and Arsinee Khanjian. FiOS doesn't even mention Elaine Cassidy who does such an outstanding job as the title character, the female lead. The description did not even categorize the film as a drama of comedy.I chose to save this on my DVR because I usually like films that Bob Hoskins agrees to be in. I had not heard of Arsinee Khanjian or her husband, the director Atom Egoyan.I suggest that I was fortunate to not have advance knowledge. Early in the film I realized that Joe Hilditch (Hoskins) was unusual. He seems to run the lunch room of a heavy industry factory, but has the title of "catering manager;" although he is not the head chef of a four star restaurant, he is presented as a culinary expert of great sensitivity. Yet despite his obvious culinary expertise, at home he prepares meals while following along with a TV cooking show. In other words, this is a complex character, someone you are interested in learning more about.That is probably about as much as you should know about this film before you watch it for the first time. Oh, one more thing - it is not a comedy.