BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Iseerphia All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

ryan gilbert After being a fan of This Is England for many years, I decided to go back and watch Meadows' other films. First up was this, and I would argue that it is almost on par with This Is England. A great, believable story with great actors. I find it more close to heart as it is filmed in suburban England, which is where I grew up which is a theme I experience with his other films too, it is refreshing to have a normal story instead of Hollywood films. The characters, setting and story are all realistic and believable, it is something that any two friends in your street could experience. The only reason why This Is England is slightly better, is because there is a more hard-hitting ending and more interesting characters in that film. But that is totally fine as this is one of Meadows' earlier films with presumably a lower budget. Sure, some of the accents sound comedic but as most of the actors where new to acting in this film, it is very impressive. It feels like a home movie, in a good way and I look forward to watching more of Meadows' work, he is definitely one of the UK's best. A solid 8 out of 10 stars.

Thomas Hardcastle I bought this film, knowing that Shane Meadows had made This Is England and Dead Man's Shoes, and knowing that Paddy Considine was electric in everything in which I've seen him.I cannot say that I was disappointed in this film. It is not as powerful as This Is England, nor is it as funny, nor as gripping as Dead Man's Shoes. However, in saying that, it is a decent film, with some rather good performances from the entire cast. Not much happens in this film, but then again, it is more about the characters than the situations they face.It is a decent couple of hours' worth of entertainment. The film is not too heavy, and not to light, and well worth a look in. Once again, Considine draws the audience into this character, and adds a sympathetic, childish, innocence whilst maintaining an air of intimidation throughout. He really is a brilliant actor.Not Meadows' best work, but his portfolio gets better by the year.

bob the moo Romeo and Gavin are schoolboys, friends and neighbours living in the suburbs of Nottingham in the Midlands. Gavin has a spinal problem that causes him to limp, while Romeo has domestic problems and is prone to his temper. One day they meet adult Morell, who helps them beat off some bullies and gives them a lift home. Morell takes a shine to Romeo's sister and starts hanging around with the boys but he is slightly unhinged and his friendship with Romeo threatens to split the friendship of the two boys.I watched This is England recently and it encouraged me to look back across other Shane Meadows films that I hadn't seen either for years or at all. Shamefully, this film fell into the latter camp but thanks to the BBC's summer of British cinema I got the chance to see it recently. Typically it is set in Nottingham with a world and characters that Meadows had experience of and as a result it is more convincing that perhaps the main thrust of the narrative has a right to be. The two characters of Romeo and Gavin are both well written and convincing and mostly they move the film along, even though I wasn't totally convinced that Morell would be able to get the type of relationships he got before everyone realised what he was about. Other than this slight issue though, the film does engage and it is mainly thanks to the acting.Meadows directs his cast well while also making good use of music and the movement of the camera. Shim is excellent in the title role and is very convincing in his performance. Marshall was less so; OK he had a bit stiffer character and is on the side of the story as the film goes on but he is very much secondary to Shim. Dominating the film though with an astonishing debut is Paddy Considine. He is amusing to children in the way some adults can be, but he never lets us forget that he is more than just a bit child-like and that unhinged is a polite description. In smaller supporting roles are McClure, Higgins, Harper and Hall, who are all good. Apart from adding the weight of his name as support, Hoskins does little but I suppose for the support alone he deserves credit.Overall then this is an enjoyable and quite disturbing film. The narrative offered me a few problems in the extremes but the natural and engaging delivery covered for them, while Meadows brings roundly convincing performances from his cast, not least of which are two strong debuts from Shim and Considine.

melvinpope not just another 'briddish' movie, this.although meadows already had one well recieved full-length feature (24/7) behind him, and a sizable reputation for being handy with a camcorder (he's made an impressive number of shorts), somehow this brave and sophisticated film got lost in the post lock, stock slop. strange as it stands head and shoulders above anything else made in britain in the past 5 years.but to define this peculier acheivement purely on the terms that it is british would be a terrible slight against this great movie. it is a film so sharp and true that it should please in just about anywhere, that just about anyone should be able to identify with the comic-horrors on display here. comic-horrors just as we might find them in life.much of this truth and beauty comes from the cast themselves. shim and marshall give relaxed performances, investing the film with charm, providing the emotional core, and avoiding the trappings that most actors of their age may have fallen into (gurning, grimacing, appearing generally overwrought). the adults are uniformly excellent to, but, perhaps inevtiably, it's paddy considine's morrell that makes the biggest impression. a man-child part that so many could've done so wrong considine gives a wild and unruly comic turn and twists the film into a darkness that few recent british films would dare to without the safety net of drugs or mockney gangsters. when it gets dark, it gets pitch-black. but we can never less than sympathetic for morrell. meadows knows his character inside out, and refuses to demonise him. we are never left wondering what is tormenting him, and meadows highlights that morrell's vicious alter-ego stems from being born into a society which has no place for him, and which constantly misunderstands him. even in the shocking climax meadows refuses to sanitise morrell. by not having the police come and tow him away, meadows leaves the question open, what will become of people like morrell? and believe me, they exist.a film that packs an emotional and political punch, is funny, and charming, and true. the sometimes intrusive folk-sy soundtrack aside, it's what you've been waiting for.