The Wardman Wire

This is an absorbing and unusual fable, an anti-romance in the Christmas miracle tradition. Michael Keaton is a steady-handed tailor, and professional killer; the early scene in which we see him at work combines brutality with a mischievous black humour. Kelly Macdonald is a new arrival in Chicago, and a mysterious young woman: quiet, attractive to men, seemingly naïve – and apparently without a past. What has brought her here? Why is she so self-contained? Lifting her gaze one fateful snowy evening, she witnesses a man apparently hesitating at the edge of a rooftop – and their lives must collide. What will be the impact?

Matt Dinerstein/Samuel Goldwyn Films

Kelly Macdonald is outstanding as the angelic innocent whose salvation this film is about in more ways than one, and whose still small life permeates. It’s difficult to convey how much I admire her performance: it’s subtle and strong, and not only serves but makes the film’s moral, even religious mood. On its own it’s a good enough reason to see this film, and I think it deserves recognition. The supporting cast is very good too. I liked Michael Keaton’s direction: not showy or tricksy but with a sense of visual style. His one mistake perhaps was to cast himself. His is the less assured of the lead performances, and it feels as though he’s straining to squeeze meaning from his taciturn part while Macdonald trusts the excellent writing and allows meaning to flow in. But he’s not enough of a problem to spoil one of the best films of the year.

The Merry Gentleman is about redemption: it acknowledges the false redemption of factitious, self-serving conversion but insists in its main plot and subplots on the possibility, for each of us, of taking control of life and choosing good – in small ways and big. A serious, grown-up Christmas offering.