Running time: 83 minutes
Starring: Robert Carlyle, Rachael Blake, Steve Evats, Joanna Tulej
Rating 5 out of 10
Here's a well-directed British film, with glorious cinematography and some excellent acting, but which is severely hampered by a downbeat script which seems to think it is saying a lot but in fact says nothing at all. The whole thing plays out like a sub-standard mix of Shane Meadows and Pawel Pawlikowski, and anyone looking for some wintry cheer would do best to pass on this particular offering.
Robert Carlyle does a back-to-his-roots turn as Shaun, a depressed figure living in a depressed council house with an equally depressed housemate named Daz (Steve Evets). Both have physical disabilities: in Shaun's case a crushed hand, while Daz is confined to a wheelchair.
The reasons for their afflictions are spelt out slowly over the course of this languorous piece as Shaun reflects on a summer many years previously, when he and Daz were the local tearaways and Shaun had a passionate romance with a neighbour called Katy (well played by Joanna Tulej). The three break all of the usual rules, and it turns out to be a summer with massive consequences.
But quite what the point of it all is is unclear. It fails as a social commentary, with its black and white and rather naïve attempts to blame Shaun and Daz's problems on the failures of their schooling. As a drama its ponderous tone is certainly weighty but never all that powerful.
Some audience members are likely to find all of this very moving, but for most it will be slight at least.
Paul Hurley
Robert Carlyle does a back-to-his-roots turn as Shaun, a depressed figure living in a depressed council house with an equally depressed housemate named Daz (Steve Evets). Both have physical disabilities: in Shaun's case a crushed hand, while Daz is confined to a wheelchair.
The reasons for their afflictions are spelt out slowly over the course of this languorous piece as Shaun reflects on a summer many years previously, when he and Daz were the local tearaways and Shaun had a passionate romance with a neighbour called Katy (well played by Joanna Tulej). The three break all of the usual rules, and it turns out to be a summer with massive consequences.
But quite what the point of it all is is unclear. It fails as a social commentary, with its black and white and rather naïve attempts to blame Shaun and Daz's problems on the failures of their schooling. As a drama its ponderous tone is certainly weighty but never all that powerful.
Some audience members are likely to find all of this very moving, but for most it will be slight at least.
Paul Hurley
