Stream It Or Skip It: ‘My Policeman’ on Amazon Prime Video, a Maudlin Drama That Gives Harry Styles a Wobbly Platform for his First Leading-Man Role

Harry Styles enjoys his first leading-man role in My Policeman (now on Amazon Prime Video), a period drama that tests his actorly mettle. Based on Bethan Roberts’ 2012 novel, the film has been overshadowed a bit by the tabloidy fracas surrounding his previous movie, Don’t Worry Darling, helmed by his current S.O. Olivia Wilde – although those with an any-publicity-is-good-publicity philosophy would argue that it’s put a slightly brighter spotlight on a British queer romance that would’ve otherwise flown quietly under the radar. Either way, the critical onus is on Styles’ transition from pop star to serious actor, so the question is, can he convincingly play a married cop with a secret gay lover?

MY POLICEMAN: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: The movie opens in the 1990s. The arrival of Patrick Hazlewood (an almost unrecognizable Rupert Everett) by a patient-transport van at the seaside home of Tom (Linus Roache) and Marion (Gina McKee) is a bone of contention between the married couple. Marion has set up an adjustable hospital bed for Patrick, who’s partially paralyzed by a stroke. The caretaker gives her the lowdown on Patrick’s medication, and warns her not to give in when he asks for a cigarette. Tom won’t talk to Patrick, and is angry that the man is even in his house. What gives?

Everyone was much happier 30-odd years ago. Or were they? They were definitely more innocent. It’s the late ’50s now. Marion (Emma Corrin) and Tom (Styles) meet on the beach, where he’s wearing a sweatervest like a good and proper Englishman. He agrees to give her swimming lessons, and she takes him to the library to broaden his literary horizons. He’s a policeman and she’s a teacher and they’re hitting it off nicely. He suggests a date at the art museum – Tom met the curator at the scene of a minor accident, so they’ll get a personal tour. That curator is Patrick (David Dawson), a sophisticated and well-read gentleman who has so much in common with Marion, but she’s in love with Tom, and that’s that.

Although it’s obviously not just that. Something had to have happened back then, or else Patrick wouldn’t be driving a wedge between retirement-age Tom and Marion. We jump between the two timelines as the dynamic among the three characters comes into focus: In the ’50s, Tom poses so Patrick may draw him (perhaps like one of his French men), and they end up tumbling into bed together; Marion remains in the dark even as Patrick toasts her and Tom at their wedding; we see sex with Marion and sex with Patrick, and there’s no doubt the latter is more satisfying for Tom. In the ’90s, Marion finds Patrick’s old diaries from back then and reads them, and I suggest you keep watching the film before you judge her apparent impropriety; Tom continues to be withdrawn and quietly upset. How did that line in that one movie go? I feel like I’m sitting on an atomic bomb, waiting for it to go off? It definitely applies here.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: My Policeman is like An Education crossed with Bros.

Performance Worth Watching: The maudlin screenplay does no one any favors, and renders Styles’ performance stiff and passionless – sorry, Harryeads. McKee is the standout here, and she works through the clunky framing device and a cringeworthy Big Climactic Scene with quiet dignity.

Memorable Dialogue: Patrick: “I can’t draw you if I don’t know who you are.”

Sex and Skin: Lots of man-butt in moderately graphic Tom-and-Patrick schtup scenes.

Our Take: Except period-British atomic bombs aren’t nearly as explosive as normal atomic bombs. Not that My Policeman fails to detonate; it just doesn’t knock you over and stomp on your heart like a good melodrama should. The story hinges on the irony of Tom’s being gay in his chosen profession during an era in which cops beat up and arrested gay men for “perversion,” but that’s where the compelling storytelling begins and ends. The film builds the usual oppressive society and drops “forbidden” love inside it, and hits all the usual beats: longing, repression, trauma, loss.

Ron Nyswaner’s screenplay is a conundrum – bland dialogue inspires flat line-readings, and it deftly intertwines the two timelines, nestling smaller, more intriguing plot revelations within the big, obvious, predictable ones. The characters are so thinly written, and instead of stimulating his cast to transcend the script, director Michael Grandage leans into the period detail, apparently more interested in wool jackets and quaint, cottagelike mid-century country homes than anything else. Empathetic viewers will feel involvement only on a base level – you know, love is love and prejudice is awful – but beyond that, the movie doesn’t offer much that’s fresh, complex or involving.

Our Call: The jury’s still out on Styles as a movie star – give him an incomplete for now. But it’s in for My Policeman: SKIP IT.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com.