Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"You're Ugly Too" is an Irish mix of comedy and drama movie from earlier this year. For writer and director Mark Noonan, it's the first full feature film, but he got some experience already with short films and television shows. Lead actor Auden Gillen is obviously the star here from his work on "Game of Thrones". I am not a fan of this show, so I am probably less biased about him than most other people who watch this. This movie here basically caught my attraction because the story sounds simple yet interesting, a bit along the lines of "Tanta agua". A man gets released from prison to take care of his young niece after her mother died. Complications arise as the man killed the girl's dad a couple years ago, even if it was just an accident.Basically, the entire film is about the lead duo communicating. Another woman enters the picture at some point (with her son) and so does her husband. There is drama in this film, but it's all mostly below the surface and not really in your face, which gave this movie a fairly authentic approach. Still I must say that there were occasions, especially near the end during which the dialogs simply did not fit in terms of what a girl that age would say. Quite a shame as during most situations it was very realistic. The actors mostly do a fine job and it's a solid little film that will probably go a lot more under the radar than it should. Nothing really happens, just life and I liked how Noonan did not always go for forced unauthentic happiness, especially in the end. It is a truly realistic watch and it's good they kept it at only 80 minutes. Many filmmakers make the mistake of trying to drag their works to the 100-minute mark and include scenes that add nothing to the movie, or even leave a negative impact as they don't make any sense in the grand scheme of things. Not so this one. I recommend "You're Ugly Too", even if I do not like the pretentious title as this quote (end of the joke he tells the girl) really did not have any significance at all.
