Martin is a famous talk show host just out of jail, Maureen is a lonely single mother, Jess is young, reckless and heartbroken, and JJ is an American realizing the failures in his life. Through mutual pain and humour, this unlikely group take the long way down and figure out what will keep them alive until Valentine's Day, one step at a time. On New Year’s Eve, four strangers, intent on ending it all, fatefully meet on a London rooftop, where they create a dysfunctional family and a Plan B.

There are moments of tenderness and honest human emotion buried in the frustrating “A Long Way Down” but one has to work far too hard and give far too much credit to the over-qualified cast to grab at them. Basedon a hit book by (“,” “”) that contained anemotional minefield maudlin enough that the film took nearly a decade to comeinto existence even though the Hornby bandwagon was full in the ‘00s, “A LongWay Down” is a textbook case of over-direction. Characters laugh too hard; thescore by Dario Marianelli alternates between wispy guitar strumming andheartstring-pulling piano tinkling; the suicidal characters literally dance to “IWill Survive” at one point.

You get the idea. Honest emotion falls victim topoor filmmaking again. Martin Sharp wants to kill himself on NewYear’s Eve. He has tumbled from the height of popularity after a sex scandalwith an underage girl destroyed his family and sees no reason to go on if he’snot famous. He climbs to the roof of the Toppers Building, a notorious suicidespot; so notorious that he runs into three other people on this frosty, fatefulevening. Maureen has a severely disabled son and can’t go on.Jess is heartbroken and J.J.

tells his new matesthat he has brain cancer. The four agree to delay their life-ending untilValentine’s Day, keeping tabs on each other over the next month-and-a-half and,of course, forming a unique bond.When the “Topper House Four” is outed in the press (it turnsout that Jess’ dad is a famous politician, making her bait for tabloidheadlines), they become semi-celebrities. To escape the attention, they jet offto a resort, frolic in the surf, grow closer, learn the importance of life, get a tan,etc.“A Long Way Down” is a film that’s afraid of its subjectmatter: suicidal depression. One never senses any actual danger or urgency inthe plight of these characters to battle their demons before they kill them, and the lack of any sense that these people might actually end their lives drains the piece of drama.Their depression is merely a plot device.

Was once the frontman for a bandcalled Gepetto and he laughs about one of the hackneyed lines that he wrote: “Idon’t mind the pain, it’s the hope that kills me.” Writer anddirector present the line as a bit of humor about a wannabegrunge band that never was but it’s indicative of the problem with the film. Hurtworld free download. The movie neverminds the pain. It doesn’t pay attention to it. We don’t feel it. Well, most ofthe time. The always-great Collette somehow finds a way to make the mostmaudlin and manipulative character arc of the quartet hit most of the right beats.

The film's greatest value is further proof that Collette makes everything she's in better.To be fair, Poots is quite good here as well, but both actressesare weighed down by a director who didn’t trust them. Jess lying on her bedsinging the BeeGees classic “Tragedy” should be done with a wink, not with atreacly score underneath.

When the foursome realizes they’ve written theirnon-suicide pact on the back of Maureen’s suicide note, the actors have beendirected to laugh in response in an exaggerated, overblown way. It soundspicky, I know, but “A Long Way Down” never registers emotionally because it isconstantly reminding you it’s a movie.

And it’s not a very good one.

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A suicide pact between a chastened television presenter, a struggling single mother, a down on his luck musician, and an alienated, troubled teen seems like an unlikely starting point for a comedy, but that's exactly where - the latest film to adapt one of English author Nick Hornby's  books - finds its premise. That's a grim basic conceit, but based on the above international trailer, the film may not actually go much darker than its cornerstone sequence.Hornby's novel revolves around the aforementioned quartet of perfect strangers - Martin (Pierce Brosnan), Maureen (Toni Collette), Jess (Imogen Poots), and J.J.

('s Aaron Paul) - who each head to the highest floor of the Toppers' House in London on New Year's Eve with the intention of leaping to their doom. But if two is company and three's a crowd, four on the rooftop is never allowed, so they agree to postpone their deaths until Valentine's Day; during the intervening weeks, they bond and find succor in their newfound friendship. We've seen a number of Hornby's stories transitioned from page to screen since the late 90's, when the original Fever Pitch (starring Colin Firth) came out; most famous of all, though, is 2000's High Fidelity, a story that's defined by heartbreak but suffused with an offsetting warmth that informs its entire climax. From watching this two-minute clip, it looks like we can expect much of the same from A Long Way Down, too.

(Perhaps those familiar with the text can speak to that suspicion.)Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. A Long Way Down looks sweet, charming, and moving, and all those elements combined with the film's cast - which also includes Rosamund Pike and Sam Neill - could prove a winning formula. Brosnan and Collette are both veteran talents, while Paul and Poots (who appear together in the upcoming video game adaptation ) have proven themselves individually in films ranging from to A Late Quartet over the past few years. On the other hand, there are hints at schmaltzy overtones here that may end up tipping the picture into more a more cloying category of storytelling. Director Pascal Chaumeil, working off of a screenplay by Jack Thorne, has largely made a name for himself with romantic comedies like Heartbreaker and Un plan parfait; maybe he can find the right balance between A Long Way Down's morose and joyful aspects.British audiences will find out for sure toward the end of March, when the film opens in UK cinemas. Whether or not it gets a US theatrical run remains to be seen, but we'll keep our fingers crossed if only for the cast alone.