Helena Bonham Carter has over the years played a long line of eccentric, crass women. From her big break as Marla Singer in "Fight Club," to standing supporting characters in ex-husband Tim Burton's imaginative stories, villain Bellatrix Lestrange in the "Harry Potter" movies and the sturdy wife of stuttering King George in "King's speech."
However, these women are very rarely the main character and it is not a day too soon that Bonham Carter gets to show off her wide acting range in a lead role that demands both her patented bitterness and a vulnerability she rarely gets to show.
"Nolly" is about the (real) British actor Noele Gordon who for 18 years between 1964 and 1981 played motel owner Meg in the long-running soap "Crossroads" until one day she is inexplicably fired.
Although "Nolly" is about a TV series that went to the grave in the 80s, it feels like a fresh addition to the many series and movies about today's television industry. Only with the Murdoch empire as inspiration have we in recent years, in addition to "Succession", received "The loudest voice", "Bombshell" and "Motherfatherson".
But while old media vs. social media and the approaching death of tableau television have been debated ad nauseam, the now rarely talked about TV format soap opera has tirelessly pushed on with a cockroach's ability to survive.
Constantly mocked, but loved by a loyal audience, soaps have been shown since the dawn of television. In the UK, "Coronation street" has been running since 1960, "Home to the Farm" since 1972 and "Eastenders" since 1985 and the phenomenon deserves a little more attention after long and faithful service.
Screenwriter Russell T Davies (Doctor Who) and director Peter Hoar have previously collaborated on "It's a sin" and Davies has written one of the best miniseries of the decade "An English Scandal".
"Nolly" is neither as gripping as "It's a sin" about the AIDS epidemic nor as thrilling as "an English scandal" about attempted murder and at the time banned homosexuality in the British Parliament, but even this relatively small story about an aging soap opera actor contains great drama, humor and heart.