My Review of Postcards From London (2018)

 

Written And Directed by Steve McLean

Jim: "If it's beautiful. If it's a proper masterpiece, I faint."

With Pride Month looming, I decided to get in a little earlier and my first choice was this arty number from 2018. Picture it, a gorgeous young man named Jim (Harris Dickinson) trading Essex for Soho. The result, a rather interesting discovery for Jim.

Yes, he landed in London, determined to male a life for himself and between getting mugged and no sympathy from a barmaid, it didn't take Jim long to actually make friends. Friends of the raconteurs kind. Expect a lot of talking here.

The raconteurs had a leader in affable David (Jonah Hauer-King) but the rest of them included Jesus (Alessandro Cimadmore), Marcello (Leonardo Salerni) and Victor (Raphael Desprez). They took Jim into their group and brushed him up on the works of Caravaggio. Seriously, this movie's somewhat of a love in for this specific artist than none others really get a look into proceedings that much.

While Jim seemed to have a handle on the sex part of his new profession and certainly attracted older clients such as Gabriel (Silas Carson) and Tony (Trevor Cooper), there was one thing that somewhat deterred things for Jim. Aside from unwisely giving his services away for free, Jim had a tendency of passing out when confronted with beautiful art.

Jim did that a lot and to the point where it either worried or annoyed his fellow raconteurs and clients. The condition in question was revealed to be Stendhal Syndrome with some interesting visuals as Jim imagined himself being in some of the pieces that overwhelmed. Those scenes came with a running commentary from the hunky muse.

As the movie concluded, Jim outgrew the raconteurs,  the artist Max (Richard Durden). Even a brief partnership with former raconteur turned city businessman Paul (Leemore Marrett Jr.) saw Jim wanting to make art instead being the art itself.  The boy chose a different path for himself.

- Ben Cura pops up during Jim's blackouts as Caravaggio and the latter certainly had no problem in referring to Caravaggio killing someone. 

- Director Steve McLean had a similarly themed movie named Postcards From America (1994).

- Standout music: Jonah Hauer-King provided two tracks with Lover (Muse) and My Funny Valentine.

- Chronology: Present Day Soho, though Jim's clients do like to talk about their youth.

Postcards From London certainly was a very wordy film and in spite of the protagonist's main profession, its not huge on actual sex scenes itself. Its still sexy in a more cerebral sort of way and Harris Dickinson certainly exuded the right level of naivete and sex appeal as Jim.

Rating: 7 out of 10