Precious is a new-style weepie but one that is much more bracing than depressing
Precious
Theatre
Ian McKellen is captivating throughout. He delights in the play’s gallows humour, yet is also maudlin and poignant
Waiting for Godot
Theatre
Slight quibbles notwithstanding, this will set the West End’s stock riding high
Enron
Utterly, utterly brilliant. You really are in for a treat
Though 'Trilogy' has won rave reviews, I personally found myself exasperated after about an hour
We went on a quiet sunday evening and the food was excellent, but the experience let down by the service and ambiance
London,
Derek Malcolm's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Shane Meadows.
Cast: Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Joe Gilgun, Jo Hartley
Description: Adolescent loner Shaun lives with his mother Cynth on a council estate, struggling to cope with the death of his father in the Falklands War. Standing up to a group of skinhead bullies, Shaun is welcomed into the ranks by leader Woody, who in turn introduces Shaun to ine-time jailbird Combo. As Combo begins to exert his influence on the gang, encouraging the disaffected youngsters to pledge their allegiance to the National Front, racial tensions are inflamed with tragic repercussions.
Country: UK. 2006. 102mins
Small miracle: Thomas Turgoose (centre) steals the film in his first acting role
Shane Meadows's new film is set on the council estate of a town somewhere in the Midlands and populated by a mixture of amateur and professional players.
So far, so predictable if you know the previous work of this British director who resolutely refuses to make films totally outside his own experience.
But this time there's a new maturity about his work which transcends the violent trajectory of Dead Man's Shoes and the humorous vitality of Once Upon a Time in the Midlands.
It is as if, in trawling through his own past again, he has hit upon some basic truths and pointed them up in a self-penned script with obvious emotional honesty.
It's the Eighties and 12-year-old Shaun (Thomas Turgoose), an only child, gets into a fight with an older boy who mocks the death of his father, recently killed in the Falklands war.
Befriended by a skinhead gang, the lonely boy cleaves to Combo (Stephen Graham), just out of prison and a rabid National Front supporter. At least Combo appreciates the bravery of his soldier father.
The gang splits, rejecting Combo's racist values, but Shaun remains loyal to him, anchored by a friendship that must ultimately turn sour.
Both Graham and Turgoose perform small miracles in the leading parts, with Shaun's cherubic but pawky innocence contrasted with the bitter, psychotic nature of Combo.
But Meadows's direction of his entire cast is near faultless, using humour as a tool to temper the ever-increasing sense of doomed and futile lives.
The film starts with a well edited montage behind the opening credits reminding us of the period, which is further illustrated by the music of Toots and the Maytals.
And if it ends with a rather predictable burst of violence, its strengths lie in the precision of its direction and the excellent marshalling of its cast - none of whom is treated with less than a basic sympathy and understanding.
It's certainly not nostalgia, nor is it a self-indulgent portrait of the circumstances of Meadows's youth. It is rather a portrayal of a certain time and place that has lessons for us about the twisted loyalties of today's gang culture.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
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