Having knocked us all out in 2004 in LAND OF PLENTY by Wim Wenders, here Michelle Williams proves that she is truly supernatural. She gives one of the most gut-wrenching performances ever seen on the screen. And for a Montana gal who had to brush the sagebrush pollen out of her hair before joining polite company, stow her lasso, and pretend to be civilised, how did she manage to master the accent and rhythms and patterns of speech, dress, and mannerisms of those real savages, the gals in those short tart's skirts who live in tower blocks in East London and are married to men who support Arsenal Football Club? (Ugh! Football! Makes me sick! And singing about a football club, how oafish can you get?) It all goes to show that Williams, like good wine, travels well, even though in this case it was from planet to planet. This film is so brilliantly written and directed by Sharon Maguire (formerly a television documentary film maker) that the combination of Maguire and Williams sets the cinema on fire and thereby justifies the film's title admirably. Excellent support is had from Ewan McGregor and Matthew MacFadyen as the two male leads, but all eyes are on Williams. The production values of this film are very high, and it is easy to be convinced that the big terrorist attack on Wembley Stadium has really happened, as the attack and the aftermath are all so real. However, this is not a film about terrorism, which is merely the backdrop, in the sense that world wars and civil wars have been for so many films in the past, from GONE WITH THE WIND to FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS to MRS. MINIVER. This is a film about people, but especially about Michelle Williams. Only a woman could have directed this. In fact, one is tempted to say that all films with terrorism backgrounds should be directed by women, because they are not tempted as men are to dwell on all the violence for its own sake. With a woman at the helm, this film becomes a people film, but a man would have strayed, taken more interest in guns and corpses and explosions (little boys going bang bang sometimes never grow up, especially when they have a budget and a cameraman handed to them). As a study of searing grief and despair, Williams has our hearts in her mouth, but don't worry, it isn't really a downer, it is simply so spellbinding looking at her and seeing into another dimension. She seems to be a tiny little thing, and it is almost inconceivable that such a small package can carry such a huge explosive power. This film really is an instant contemporary classic.

This story begins with the voice of young woman living in London's East End telling us how she looks from her apartment into what remains of a row of older, well kept houses across the road, with envy. As it turns out, she is the mother of a little boy that seems to be her main purpose in living. The husband has a demanding job as a bomb diffuser, a dangerous job, indeed. The husband, an avid soccer fan, decides to take the boy to an important match. Little do they know the stadium is targeted for a terrorist bomb.

As the husband and son go to the match, this lady is singled out by a seedy journalist that happens to live in one of the same houses she admires from afar. Little seems to stand in the way of a sexual session at her place where her man and son are away. As the couple is engaging in torrid sex, she overhears about the bombing at the stadium. The incident will play heavy on her mind when guilt and regret take her peace of mind.

Based on a novel by Chris Cleave, the film evidently came out around the time when London suffered real terrorist attacks where people died and were injured. We cannot imagine what possessed Sharon Maguire, a director involved with light comedy to undertake the adaptation of the book. The result is an uneven movie that ultimately does not satisfy.

The main attraction for this viewer was the cast. Michelle Williams, a fine actress otherwise, does what she can in a role that does not add anything to her career. Ewan McGregor, who was also paired with Ms. Williams in "Deception", is not too successful with the newspaper man he is supposed to portray. Matthew Macfadyen is completely wasted in a role that is so ambiguous to make any sense.

Well Intentioned Post-Terror Musings on a Mother's Loss of Her Son (what grief there is for Her Husband is virtually absent) from, not one, but four, in tandem Suicide Bombers at a Stadium in London.

Extremely Heavy Handed and sometimes Incoherent and Rambling Story. Badly Edited, the Film seems Pasted Together from a Committee of Mentally Challenged Monkeys.

Things Happen without the Least Bit of Coherence (the middle with the Teenage Boy as one example) and the Triangle Romance is just Awkward and Distracting.

Michelle Williams in a Difficult Role is Ravaged by it all and spends most of the Movie completely Disheveled and Delusional, in Tears, Distressed, and Depressed. Then a Segment Pops Up where She is Completely Gone, Hallucinating and Detached from Reality.

The Biggest Problem is the Movie Never comes together and Appears Random and Rushed. The Music is just Awful and the Film is a Heavy Duty Downer.

It Needs a Finesse of the Heart and Soul. It Feels like it was made, Tossed in a Blender, and Released without Regard for its Deep Subject Matter and the Emotional Attachment that it would Demand from the Audience.