Romeo and Gavin, age twelve or thirteen, are next
door neighbors in England and best of friends until a
strange young man comes into their lives. The film
focuses on their far from perfect family situations
and how the stranger interrupts the normal flow of
disfunctionality.
Noticeably slow, the opening credits seemingly
introduce an amateur piece of work; fortunately, the
contrary is true. Director Shane Meadows performs one
admirable job of portraying the gritty reality and
gritty humor of this Midlands housing estate -- the
crisp tight script giving him a firm foundation. Then
there's the amazingly charged performance by the
stranger, Paddy Considine. He'll have you loving him,
hating him, sympathizing with him, but best of all,
confounded and studying him in hopes of understanding
his next move. He's masterfully unpredictable and
beautifully dark.
The only thing holding this film back from an "A"
rating is an emotional theme. That's not to say that
the film is not emotion - my God ... it is! It's just
the message, I'm not sure what the film was trying to
tell me or teach me about life. Engaging as a
well-adjusted clutch, the film has great traction on
screen, but as I drove away from the theater, its
after-taste rested bitter on my lips.
Also, though Bob Hoskins is listed in the credits,
he has nearly as much screen time as a passerby.
Fortunately, none of the actors involved are less
talented than he -- quite the contrary.
Director's statement: "There's no logic to the
things you feel as a child. Decisions are made from
the stomach. Your best friend can be dumped in an n
instant as a local bum becomes your idol. When I
actually remembered how I viewed the world as a
child, I realized how much I had forgotten."
Overall, an excellent, top-notch production,
compromised by an ambiguous theme.
|