Toast

Won a pair of tickets from GSC to the preview screening of Toast, essentially a BBC TV movie about the early years of English food writer Nigel Slater. Went into this not knowing who the guy was to start with, or having read the book this was based on.

You watch movies of this nature, wanting the best for the titular character. But Nigel (played by Oscar Kennedy as 9 year old Nigel, and Freddie Highmore as the teenaged Nigel) just comes across as a prat and a Class-A ass in this. Really unlikeable. The screenplay is also co-written by Mr Slater and he does have make an appearance in the end of the movie, so he must've signed off on this at some point.

The first half or two-thirds of the movie was with 9 year old Nigel, which bored me a little but I know the set up is important. He does things to food that you never want to see done. He also comes across as a right idiot. If you're wondering when Freddie shows up, you'll have to wait awhile. Apparently he also had a gay kissing scene (cut, obviously) in the movie that you can find on YouTube.

I have no idea why GSC brought this movie in as part of the International Screens, but really... I would not bother (paying). You can probably find it online someplace if you really want to watch it. This is the equivalent of paying to watch a RTM2 weekly sandiwara in the cinema. Or you can call it an art house movie and call it a night.

That said, Freddie Highmore didn't turn out so bad... it's just that he reminds of Zac Efron and not in a good way :P