We've seen Cumberbatch as a proper WW I English officer startled by the reality of modern warfare in the 2011 "War Horse" or a crackling quick smart aleck sociopath in the BBC TV series "Sherlock." In "Third Star" he is neither of these. Slightly bitter, his James believes he can see the folly of his best friends and family.

When we first see him, he's 29 and going to be thirty, but also soon to be dead. He's a man in a hoodie looking at grey skies and a dark ocean. His sister Chloe is upset and his parents are being brave, yet we sense that he is impatient under their care. "The sickness may be mine, but the tragedy is theirs" he thinks to himself.

Because their hovering reminds him of his death, James feels, "I need to escape so my friends are taking me to my favorite place on earth." That place is Barafundle Bay, a remote place requiring a hike and camping trip that James is not fit to make alone.

At the edge of thirty, James is like many young people. He's lost some of that "we-can-change-the-world" optimism and unlike his friends, he has run out of time. He's frustrated by his three friends and how they aren't pushed by the kiss of death. For the kindly, directionless Davy, James' illness comes at a time when Davy is unemployed and Davy (Tom Burke) has devoted himself to caring for James. On this camping trip, he makes sure James has his meds, including morphine for the pain.

Bill (Adam Robertson) is the most fun-loving of the foursome, but he has a girlfriend whom no one seems to like. We don't see enough of her to really agree or disagree with James' assessment of her. The men are in agreement that Bill would be better off without her yet none of them are in long-term committed relationships. Or at least it seems that way at first.

Davy and Bill were the main supporters of this journey with the most successful of the three, Miles (J.J. Feild), a late last-minute inclusion. Miles and James were once close, in a competitive way--both being writers. Miles has grown increasingly distant, in part because he can't handle James' terminal illness. James tells us "Miles has the pressure of expectation...I have the pressure of time." As part of a concession to James' weakened state, Davy, Bill and Miles help propel a special cart for James, something that looks like a three-wheeled recumbent bicycle without pedals.

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