Flashbacks of a Fool

Joe Scott is an ageing Hollywood actor whose career has stalled and whose life in Los Angeles has narrowed to parties, drugs and solitude, watched over by his assistant, Ophelia. Word arrives that Boots, the friend he grew up with, has died, and Joe travels back to the seaside town in England where he spent his youth. The visit brings back the events of one summer in the 1970s, when he was still unknown and living by the British coast.

Daniel Craig plays the adult Joe, with Harry Eden as his younger self, alongside Miriam Karlin, Jodhi May, Helen McCrory and Olivia Williams. Baillie Walsh directed and wrote the screenplay, and Lene Bausager, Damon Bryant and Winnie Li produced for Miramax, Ugly Duckling Films and Left Turn Films. The British drama runs 110 minutes and took about 1 million dollars worldwide.

It was Walsh's first feature as director; his second, Being James Bond, followed in 2021. On IMDb the film holds 6.8 out of 10 from around 13,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.2 from roughly 155 votes. Its critics' rating of 5.2 from 22 reviews is lower than the audience scores.