Twenty-One (1991)

Director:

Don Boyd

Writers:

Don Boyd (screenplay)
Don Boyd (story)

Release Date:

4 October 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

It's definitely men you've got to watch...in my life, sex and love have come in different packages...and never, never show you care what they say!

Plot:

Katie is a free spirited independently minded 21-year-old. The film follows her as she reflects on the men in her life...

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Patsy Kensit	...	Katie
Jack Shepherd	...	Kenneth
Patrick Ryecart	...	Jack
Maynard Eziashi	...	Baldie
Rufus Sewell	...	Bobby
Sophie Thompson	...	Francesca
Susan Wooldridge	...	Janet
Julia Goodman	...	Linda
Julian Firth	...	Michael
Guy Oliver-Watts	...	Marcus
Robert Bathurst	...	Mr. Metcalfe
Ben Murphy	...	Gerald Morris
Shelley Borkum	...	Agency Woman
Veronica Clifford	...	Bobby's Aunt
Donald Tandy	...	Bobby's Father

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.50 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Germany:16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Anglo International Films

Frank but pretty uninspired or unfunny

From her new life in New York, Katie talks openly about her experiences in men. The film follows her memories back to London and the men in her life from a teenager through to today. Her father, her drug using boyfriend and her experiences with married men as she tries to find happiness.

This starts brightly enough with Katie talking directly to the camera in the first of many to-camera monologues. She is frank and open and it feels like it has energy even if it's a little rough round the edges. This energy is in the background for most of the film however as more serious relationship dramas are brought to the fore. This turns the film from a Bridget Jones type affair into a slightly failed and mismatched drama. The frank talk feels like it is meant to shock us into thinking we're watching something racy or clever when really we're not at all.

The direction doesn't help much. The handheld style doesn't add to the feeling of being in a personal conversation, instead it makes it feel a little rough and ready and slightly unprofessional. Kensit does OK as Katie and helps to make the film better than it probably is. Some of her frankness does feel forced but some of her emotional scenes shows that she can act when she has to. Sadly for her the frank coarse humour doesn't sit well with the deeper emotional issues she is supposed to have. The support cast are OK if all you're looking for is caricatures (lecherous older man, drug user etc), Sewell, Ryecart etc all do OK despite the material.

Overall this is passable as a sort of sub-par Bridget Jones. The characters don't really work and neither the frank talk or the deeper relationships don't quite hang together. A nice try with a little bit of energy but overall the flaws slowly overwhelm whatever promise this jaded effort may have originally shown.