Seen before: Yes
Shane Meadows' first feature length film '24 7...' benefited from the fact that a well known face put their name to it, in Bob Hoskins. Without him in the central role, I fear that it would not have been the film to jump start Meadows' career.
---Plot Summary---
Set in the Midlands, an area of poor economic and social growth, Alan Darcy decides to set up a boxing club, a way of getting young men off the streets and out of trouble, a way that he grew up with when he was a youth. The night of the club's first match against another club arrives, but all does not go to plan...
---Review---
I will start by saying that I love Shane Meadows' films. I have seen all of them, including this one, a good few times. Whilst certainly not my favourite of his films, '24 7...' has a certain charm to it that I believe would not be lost on any viewer who was not aware of Meadows. It begins with a young man named Tim (Danny Nussbaum) walking his dog down by the abandoned railway tracks (just one of many symbols of the great, bleak Midlands that Meadows frequently uses in his films), when he finds a down-and-out Alan Darcy (Bob Hoskins) in a derelict shack. He takes him back to his house, puts him to bed, and then begins to read from his journal. The rest of the film is then one extended 'flashback' as Tim reads about Darcy's take on the events that led to him being in the shack.
Darcy is a man who is tired of the young lads in the town sitting around and doing nothing, getting involved with drugs and violence, so decides to set up a boxing club. His main motivation behind this is that he used to box when he was a young man, and it led to drops in crime rates and gave him and his mates a hobby. So he goes about recruiting lads for his club, and uniting previously hostile factions of young men together. The actors playing the young men are almost all first time actors (another common trademark in meadows' early work) but generally all perform pretty well, almost naturally, as I'm sure that a couple lived lives not dissimilar to their characters in the film. Each character lives in different circumstances (one is a junkie, another has an abusive father) and in their own ways we do come to sympathize with their situation.
The boys, whilst reluctant at first, all warm to Darcy's project and eventually become keen and enthusiastic, which leads to Darcy organising a big fight night against a rival club. It's here where everything seems to go off the rails, with Darcy's boys losing their fights and one lad losing control. It leads to a heated crowd reaction and as Tim comes out to box, Darcy gets into an altercation with Tim's father, who he then beats to within an inch of his life. It's this which leads to Darcy's descent into squalor as he leaves the town in shame. It's an ugly scene to watch, as Tim's dad, played by Bruce Jones (Les in Coronation Street) laughs as Darcy beats him, and threatens to slit his own wife's throat when he gets home. It is hard not to feel sympathy for what happens to Darcy after this.
Hoskins turns in yet another great performance as Darcy, it is both an uplifting and at times comical portrayal. As I said before, all the young actors shine in their own way, and it saddens me to think how James Corden, who plays the son of the boxing clubs investor, had such a promising dramatic acting career (he also starred in Mike Leigh's 'All Or Nothing') before he went down the 'funnyman' route. The film is shot in black and white, which I believe was for financial reasons, but it actually works really well in adding to the bleakness and hopelessness of this working class area of the Midlands. Meadows really knows how to show working class in all it's gory detail.
---Rating---
8/10
Tomorrow: 24 Hour Party People (Michael Winterbottom, 2002)
Shane Meadows' first feature length film '24 7...' benefited from the fact that a well known face put their name to it, in Bob Hoskins. Without him in the central role, I fear that it would not have been the film to jump start Meadows' career.
---Plot Summary---
Set in the Midlands, an area of poor economic and social growth, Alan Darcy decides to set up a boxing club, a way of getting young men off the streets and out of trouble, a way that he grew up with when he was a youth. The night of the club's first match against another club arrives, but all does not go to plan...
---Review---
I will start by saying that I love Shane Meadows' films. I have seen all of them, including this one, a good few times. Whilst certainly not my favourite of his films, '24 7...' has a certain charm to it that I believe would not be lost on any viewer who was not aware of Meadows. It begins with a young man named Tim (Danny Nussbaum) walking his dog down by the abandoned railway tracks (just one of many symbols of the great, bleak Midlands that Meadows frequently uses in his films), when he finds a down-and-out Alan Darcy (Bob Hoskins) in a derelict shack. He takes him back to his house, puts him to bed, and then begins to read from his journal. The rest of the film is then one extended 'flashback' as Tim reads about Darcy's take on the events that led to him being in the shack.
Darcy is a man who is tired of the young lads in the town sitting around and doing nothing, getting involved with drugs and violence, so decides to set up a boxing club. His main motivation behind this is that he used to box when he was a young man, and it led to drops in crime rates and gave him and his mates a hobby. So he goes about recruiting lads for his club, and uniting previously hostile factions of young men together. The actors playing the young men are almost all first time actors (another common trademark in meadows' early work) but generally all perform pretty well, almost naturally, as I'm sure that a couple lived lives not dissimilar to their characters in the film. Each character lives in different circumstances (one is a junkie, another has an abusive father) and in their own ways we do come to sympathize with their situation.
The boys, whilst reluctant at first, all warm to Darcy's project and eventually become keen and enthusiastic, which leads to Darcy organising a big fight night against a rival club. It's here where everything seems to go off the rails, with Darcy's boys losing their fights and one lad losing control. It leads to a heated crowd reaction and as Tim comes out to box, Darcy gets into an altercation with Tim's father, who he then beats to within an inch of his life. It's this which leads to Darcy's descent into squalor as he leaves the town in shame. It's an ugly scene to watch, as Tim's dad, played by Bruce Jones (Les in Coronation Street) laughs as Darcy beats him, and threatens to slit his own wife's throat when he gets home. It is hard not to feel sympathy for what happens to Darcy after this.
Hoskins turns in yet another great performance as Darcy, it is both an uplifting and at times comical portrayal. As I said before, all the young actors shine in their own way, and it saddens me to think how James Corden, who plays the son of the boxing clubs investor, had such a promising dramatic acting career (he also starred in Mike Leigh's 'All Or Nothing') before he went down the 'funnyman' route. The film is shot in black and white, which I believe was for financial reasons, but it actually works really well in adding to the bleakness and hopelessness of this working class area of the Midlands. Meadows really knows how to show working class in all it's gory detail.
---Rating---
8/10
Tomorrow: 24 Hour Party People (Michael Winterbottom, 2002)
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