No Surrender (1985)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Peter Smith

Writer:

Alan Bleasdale (writer)

Release Date:

6 August 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A Normal Night Out These Days

Plot:

A scheduling mixup means two groups of old-timers have reserved the same bar for a party on the same night...

Plot Keywords:

Protestant | Alcoholism | Pub | Conflict | Magician

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Michael Angelis	...	Mike
Avis Bunnage	...	Martha Gorman
James Ellis	...	Paddy Burke
Tom Georgeson	...	Mr. Ross
Bernard Hill	...	Bernard
Ray McAnally	...	Billy McCracken
Joanne Whalley	...	Cheryl
Mark Mulholland	...	Norman
J.G. Devlin	...	George Gorman
Vince Earl	...	Frank
Ken Jones	...	Ronny
Michael Ripper	...	Tony Bonaparte
Marjorie Sudell	...	Barbara
Joan Turner	...	Superwoman
Elvis Costello	...	Rosco de Ville

Runtime:

USA:100 min

Country:

UK | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:15 | Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

High expectations, poor results...

I'd heard a lot about this film, 99% of it good. So I picked the film up to take a gander, and was terribly disappointed. It took me two tries to even finish the film! Michael Angelis was actually quite good in the main role, and Elvis Costello was amusing in his cameo appearance as a daft magician. But the good ended there. The jokes were dated, the sound was horrid, the plot was garbled and *much* too long. Was only 1 hour 40 but felt like more than two hours... There were some very funny moments (including the band, which was hilarious, and an attempted mugging of a blind man, the results of which also had me laughing) but most of the humour was lost in the drag of this plodding film. And when the end came it was a horrid finish! I'd give it a 1/10 if I hadn't actually enjoyed any part of it, but as it stands I can rate it no higher than a three. 3/10.