Nigel seemed like a spoilt brat, that let class status get in the way, and he was so busy pining for his father's attention he didn't see the little things, his father was rude, and Mrs Potter okay considering the treatment from Nigel, she made him who he was.
Captain Jack:. ‘....Savy’
This is a real person, and if played as close to real as can be written, as a youngster he was 'a bit off'. I couldn't believe he was that naive. Apparently, he got it worked out by adulthood, because the movie closed with my good feelings toward him.
shareI am a aware he is a real person, stubborn chef. Probably if I had watched it as a younger teenager I would relate to him, but since I watched it into my late teens I was intensely bothered by him, and probably what didn't help was I didn't have a clue who he was to begin with.
Captain Jack:. ‘....Savy’
I didn't like him either. He was one of the most self centered leads I've ever seen. Mrs Potter wasn't that bad, she did love him in her way. Also Freddie Highmore was a BIG disappointment.. the way he reacted to his father's death... He acted like his sister's hamster died, and not his father. He didn't care at all. Helena was pretty good.. not her best, but good.
shareThank you! I hated this character too. I feel like the kid Nigel was a pretty good character: his mom died, he thinks his father hates him, and his new cleaner is trying to get it on with his father. It makes sense for the character, but then when he became a teenager, he just came off as a jerk. You just found out that your father, your only other relative, is dead, and you don't even shed a tear? Even if you don't care about him, which Nigel supposedly did, you at least feel sorry for the fact that you're all alone in the world.
Personally, I liked Mrs. Potter better: she's obviously has had a hard life, she runs away from her husband and lives 6 years with a man as his personal chef and cleaner, the kid she has to deal with everyday hates her, and then afterwards, she ends up married to fat, lazy, insensitive ass! And her "rivalry" with Nigel was obviously a way of trying to fit in and "keep" her place in the family. I thought eventually it would pan out that even if she and Nigel didn't necessarily love each other, that they liked each other in their own way. But Nigel was just ... UGH!
I don't know what movie you watched, but Ms. Potter did NOT love Nigel. She spent half of her time trying to impress his father and stay on his good side and the rest of her time competing with Nigel for his father's attention, which she won. All Nigel wanted was his father's approval and love. He never got it. So, I can understand why he was cold when he learned that his father had suddenly died. There was nothing left emotionally for his father at that point. But the Potter character came off as an opportunist, leaving her husband and running off with Nigel's father to live in the country. Nigel was a child who had lost his mother at a young age and didn't want to see her so easily and quickly replaced, especially by a woman who obviously had an agenda. She commented to Nigel at one point that she had "sacrificed" to be there. Well, what exactly did she give up? It seemed she gained more than she lost.
Nigel's father was a miserable son-of-a-bitch from the start. He was never warm or truly accepting of his son. He was usually critical and downright mean to Nigel. The beach scene and the scene with the raw food come to mind. He made the mistake a lot parents make--seeking to make themselves happy at the expense of their children. In fact, BOTH of this kid's parents were damaged people and I immediately felt sorry for Nigel. His parents were both utter morons. I mean, they acted as if they'd never heard of spaghetti. It was as if it had come from another planet, they way they wre behaving. Nigel had a dreadful childhood, so I can understand the way he behaved.
Sister, when I've raised hell, you'll know it!
Absolutely agree with you. The book goes into a lot more detail and truthfully, his father and Mrs. Potter were both portrayed to be a lot worse than they seem in it, but basically she was an opportunist and dad was a cold toward Nigel.
shareDamn, you nailed it. He was a bit of a jerk as a teenager, but... that's normal. His parents weren't emotionally connected to him, and from what I saw (skipped through a lot of the middle depressing parts) I doubt they or Ms. Potter would have accepted his homosexuality, so wtf, might as well run off to London and follow your dream now you are free.
I felt, too, that I did not like the main character. It seemed quite obvious that both him and Mrs Potter could compromise a little and gain a lot. Some of that was Mrs Potter's fault, but it wasn't too hard to see that he KNEW that and took advantage of it. He could use a little give and take to get along with everybody, regardless of how much you might dislike his Dad. Instead, he just took offense at everything and couldn't forgive anyone. He barely forgave his real mom for dying. Even the mistreatment he did suffer by Dad wasn't that horrible, as far as I could see. In the 60's there was indeed MUCH WORSE that went on.
As for his homosexuality, it did not seem that it presented much of a problem except that it had to be closeted.
It's cause you're a homophobe!
shareHe seemed to have the makings of a serial killer. He was a bit of a nutter.
shareHe seemed to have the makings of a serial killer. He was a bit of a nutter.
He does come across as a small-minded emotional weakling, and pretty detestable. He seems like he didn't always have the best of life in his youth, but frankly, why should anyone feel especially sorry for him? He lost his mother, his father enters a relationship with another woman who spends the rest of the film bending over backwards trying to understand, please, and love this obnoxious little creep.
shareFood is not love, despite what people perceive. In this film, it's often manipulation. He's a child and you call him an obnoxious little creep. Interesting.
share