Im looking at all the 9s and 10s and Im wondering if I should watch this movie again....not!!! I considered not playing the second disc at all that's how much i wasnt enjoying it. This film was way too slow, especially the first disc, to be considered gripping or intriguing. Absolutely not a thriller. After being fired from his job, Tom Rondstadt goes back to his childhood home and almost immediately starts to flashback to an incident that led him to leave home in the first place; an incident between him and his father, Sam. Getting answers to the rising questions Tom has for his dad is difficult because dad has Alzheimers. The movie just stutter steps to me. When there is a revelation, I really couldn't care less. This was a great story, I just dont think it was executed well; it needed more intensity. I didnt care for the ending either. As things are falling into place and more and more truth is revealed, it was like a snowball rolling down a hill and it's getting bigger...then stalls. I did like the exposure Alzheimer's received by making it a huge focal point and the phenomenal job Jim Broadbent did this role. John Simm did a great job as well.

John Simm is such an intelligent and under-rated actor. Not overly suave or good looking, but great at playing the troubled everyman. Here he has a role that fits like a glove: a sacked London journalist (with the clichéd alcohol and drug dependence) forced to return to his home town where his sister Nancy (the superb Olivia Colman) is caring for their father (Jim Broadbent) who has Alzheimer's. The plot follows Simm's character's attempts to solve a mystery from his Dad's past. It's more a study of a fractured family than a great thriller, but I think Simm could read the phone book and be interesting. He's good at conveying wry humour, attraction to the opposite sex, a kind of basic integrity and passion. I'd like to see him in a regular series with some of that salty humour and energy. He's yet to get the profile he deserves.

A prime candidate for a 'If you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme' tag, Exile sees Simm's disgraced hack flee to his Lancashire hometown for the first time in 18 years, to discover his once idolised reporter dad destroyed by Alzheimer's – along with a hideous buried scandal.Befitting the title, both father and son are exiles – from their careers, from sense, from truth; here, investigative reporting makes a fine metaphor for a crusade against the corruption of memory, and the pursuit of identity itself.Essentially a three-hander between Simm (cornering the brooding everyman corner), the wonderful Colman (playing it straight) and the mighty Broadbent, the latter's portrayal of this terrible condition must be among the most devastatingly accurate ever placed on screen. Shocking and extremely moving, with a final scene that's – ironically – quite unforgettable.

In this unique tale of a man whom has fallen from the graces of high flying London, comes a story of one man's endeavour to uncover the truths surrounding his native hometown and the circumstances that forces him to leave and become a different man. After spending the majority of his life running from his past Tom Ronstadt (John Simm), decides that running is no longer an option. This story highlights some very true realities surrounding Alzheimer's disease and the heartache that families must deal with in regards to those effected. Spanning from personal experience Jim Broadbent plays the character affected with pin-point accuracy and gives the character more edge than has ever been seen with his more lovable characters. Simm does also not disappoint with his new break from typecasting, his take on the washed out son is more intense than we have seen of him in a long time. This truly is a piece of gritty drama that will define the year.