Set in a grim but naive Midlands, the film has much more in common with the realist drama of ‘Scully’ or ‘Boys from the Blackstuff’ than ‘The full Monty’ or any of Guy Ritchie’s nonsense.

By teaming up with a gang of sympathetic older skinheads led by nice guy Woody, Sean finds somewhere to belong. But NF fuckup Combo (just out of prison and an ABSO before his time) quickly turns up to rip the tight little group apart. If Sean needs a father figure, unfortunately Combo is in the right place at the right time.

Predictably, race and identity are the focus as he gathers strength from a bunch of losers desperate for anything to believe in. It’s the timeless story of angry young men raging against the world. And at heart this is a simple coming of age drama with the nihilism of the early Thatcher years as it’ s backdrop. Her majesties’ bizarre eulogies to Queen and country burble from every radio and TV throughout, and in the context they’re as meaningless and black hearted as ever.

But Meadows has really managed to make a worthwhile feel good film. A social commentary that’s warm spirited and funny without being cloying. Alan Bleasdale would be proud. The characterisation is always allowed to carry the plot and at times it’s little short of wonderful.

The supporting cast are all good and are allowed space to develop, but Thomas Turgood as Sean and Steven Graham (Combo) are both outstanding. Combo is no one dimensional Berkhoff parody of the English racist. He’s an explosion of fear, resentment, frailty and anger who gets just about (but not quite) as much sympathy as anything else. The bleak moment where Woody’s girlfriend Lol rejects him is almost unwatchable. Combo just doesn’t get it. He’s the one who will never, ever learn and Graham is so intense it’s painful to watch.

Meadows allows all of this to unfold through character, and he avoids the kind of easy sensationalism which could ruin the sheer power of the piece. Above all this film seems to appreciate that people who do, say and think bad things are still just people. The parallels with today are presumably no accident.

If you’ve been shaking your head at the media’ s hyped up nonsense over Big Brother, you’ll be glad that Meadows takes a much less hysterical stance. But that means the racism here is real and menacing, with the courage to kick the shit out of it’s convictions.

There is one brutally violent scene which plays out just as it should. A blank, final admission of defeat. It’s the crux of the film and Combo is terrifying but at the same time pitiful. For him at least, everything really is lost. It’s a remarkable moment, and when they’re giving awards out, Graham should be near the top of the list.

Nothing’s perfect, though, and occasionally Meadows allows things to drift towards sentimentality. As a whole the film avoids it, although the inclusion of ‘Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want’ in the final scenes probably oversteps the mark. But for a film about a 12 year old who’s dad has just died, it’s excusable.

A quick mention has to go to the soundtrack, which mixes eighties pop (The Specials, Soft Cell etc.) and some fantastic roots reggae. Toots and the Maytals storming ‘Louie Louie’ manages to make an appearance, along with Pressure Drop, Lee Perry and a good few others. And because of the time and place, it doesn’t feel staged or as if it’s the usual ploy to sell the soundtrack CD. But buy it if you see it.

Maybe it’s something to do with being Scottish, but for as long as I can remember England has teetered on the edge of disaster. What with Littlejohn and Monbiot’s demented grappling over the white Cliffs of Dover, I’m still waiting for them to crumble slowly into the channel while a bloke with a clipboard whistles ‘Rule Britannia‘. But it hasn’t happened yet and you know it probably never will. Because away from all the shite and the shouting, the foaming mouths and the whining for warm beer, England quietly manages to produce great work like this. Film of the year so far.

---

Stuart Blackwood is 30 (odd), was born in Newarthill and lives in Glasgow. He supports Motherwell FC, has an MA in Economics and Philosophy and likes William Bell (the singer), Bukowski & Fante, Eric Arthur Blair, Negativeland, Eric Hobsbawm, politics, philosophy and ambiguity. He dislikes Alan Bloom and Francis Fukuyama, U2, categorization and Violence.

---

© 2007 Laura Hird All rights reserved.