Emotional Backgammon
| Emotional Backgammon | |
|---|---|
DVD cover
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| Directed by | Leon Herbert |
| Produced by | Matthew Hope Harry F. Rushton |
| Written by | Leon Herbert Matthew Hope |
| Starring | Leon Herbert Wil Johnson Daniela Lavender Jacqueline de Peza Tracey Vanessa Brown Bob Mercer Steve Weston Steve Edwin |
| Music by | Paul Foss Chris Nicolaides |
| Cinematography | Koutaiba Al-Janabi |
| Edited by | Christopher Bird |
| Distributed by | Odeon/Buccaneer |
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Release date
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14 December 2004 (DVD) |
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Running time
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93 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £6,000 |
Emotional Backgammon is a 2003 British independent comedy-drama about couples strategizing to repair relationships, with unexpected results. The film was written by Leon Herbert and Matthew Hope, directed by Herbert, and stars Herbert, Wil Johnson, Daniela Lavender, and Jacqueline de Peza. It is Herbert's first feature-length film. During its development it was featured on UK Channel 4's Movie Virgins series; upon its release, it received mixed reviews.
John is crushed when his girlfriend, Mary, announces that she's leaving him to "find herself", at the very moment John was about to ask her to marry him. John seeks out advice from his best friend Steve on strategies to win her back. Steve uses backgammon as a metaphor for approaches to take, telling John to "roll the dice, for love is a game." At the same time, Mary begins taking advice from her best friend, also employing complicated strategies. It is revealed that both John and Jane share a bitter, complicated past.
Herbert and Hope stated that, "The script idea was drawn from countless conversations with friends in problematic relationships. It is a story about emotional black-mail, but also an analysis of insecurities, and the charged and complex control tactics we resort to in the game of love." The film's production was featured on UK Channel 4's series Movie Virgins. With a budget of £6,000, it was shot on location in London, England "in a total of 18 days in July 1999" in 35mm by award-winning cinematographer Koutaiba Al-Janabi. Soundtrack artists included Kelly Le Roc, Lamarr, Incognito, David Lynden Hall, Fierce and Shola Ama (title track).
The film was met with very mixed reviews. It was described in the Daily Mail as what "one reviewer called 'an awful misfire'." The BBC review called it neither "a diamond hiding in the rough, or even a half decent feature", referring to the acting as "woeful", the soundtrack "cloyingly overbearing", which "deadens each scene", and the films sexual politics "dubious, unironic, and completely uninterrogated." According to the reviewer, the film's lack of understanding of sexual politics is illustrated by Steve's taking a role in Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, and the film is a "clunking, and offensive, drama."
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