The Life of Stuff (1997)

Director:

Simon Donald

Writers:

Simon Donald (play)
Simon Donald (screenplay)

Release Date:

21 August 1998 (UK)

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film | Based On Play

Cast

Mabel Aitken
Ewen Bremner	...	Fraser
Liam Cunningham	...	Alex Sneddon
Jason Flemyng	...	Willie Dobie
Ciarán Hinds	...	David Arbogast
Jenny McCrindle
Gina McKee	...	Janice
Stuart McQuarrie	...	Leonard
Joel Strachan	...	Raymond

Directed by
Simon Donald

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Simon Donald		play
Simon Donald		screenplay

Produced by
Lynda Myles	....	producer
Alan J. Wands	....	line producer

Original Music by
John Lunn

Cinematography by
Brian Tufano

Film Editing by
Justin Krish

Casting by
Leo Davis

Production Design by
Zoe MacLeod

Makeup Department
Dave Elsey	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Stephen Barker	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harry Boyd	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Mat Bergel	....	stand-by propman
Stephen Campbell	....	art department trainee
Gordon Fitzgerald	....	property master
Colin H. Fraser	....	construction manager
Piero Jamieson	....	dressing props

Sound Department
Dave Humphries	....	sound re-recording mixer
Alan Sallabank	....	adr mixer
Trevor Swanscott	....	foley mixer

Special Effects by
Perry Costello	....	rigging supplier
Cliff Wallace	....	special effects makeup

Visual Effects by
Craig Chandler	....	digital compositor (uncredited)

Stunts
Tom Delmar	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Bates	....	electrician
Arthur Donnelly	....	electrician
Adrian McCarthy	....	key grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dena Thanopoulos	....	costume assistant

Other crew
Hilda Booth	....	production accountant
Sarah Booth	....	assistant accountant
Alison Campbell	....	production coordinator

Production Companies

• Prairie Pictures

Other Companies

• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• International Stunt Company, The  stunt services and rentals
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services

Runtime:

Canada:90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Prairie Pictures

This Movie Doesn't Deserve To Live

THE LIFE OF STUFF revolves around a feared gangster called Alex Sneddon who is coming back to town to settle a drugs vendetta . This sounds like an exciting though unoriginal premise . Unfortunately the long anticipated arrival of Sneddon doesn't actually take place until the movie has almost finished its running time which means we the long suffering audience have to put up with .... What ?

That's the problem with THE LIFE OF STUFF , we all know where it's heading but for the most part the story is composed of absolutely nothing that holds the audience attention . Instead of anything resembling substance or indeed a plot we have to endure ( And my god it's an endurance ) wafer thin characters dancing around , taking drugs or crawling around a cellar . It's even more uninteresting on screen than what I've described

THE LIFE OF STUFF is based on a stage play but the producers seem to have made a major miscalculation on movie making . The producers may claim that there's a ready made market for the movie since people have seen the play , but is there ? Are people who watch plays in the theatre the same people who go the cinema ? In my opinion - No . It should also be pointed out that because most of the characters speak with really thick Scottish accents this movie wouldn't manage an audience outside of Scotland , I'm from Scotland myself and for the most part I couldn't understand a bloody word most of the characters were saying though judging by the dialogue maybe I shouldn't complain too much . I also couldn't noticing despite being made seven ( 7 ) years ago and being broadcast on British network television a grand total of nineteen ( 19 ) people have given this movie a vote which justs goes to show its lack of commercial appeal and I wonder how many of the voters worked on the movie ? Probably all those who didn't award it one out of ten

I thought THE WEDDING TACKLE was the worst British film the BBC showed this year but within days it was beaten by THE LIFE OF STUFF . It's a film lacking in cinematic appeal and plotting but the worse criticism is that it's totally unentertaining and the people who funded it should never have been allowed a bank account of their own . It's those people who destroyed the British film industry and continue to destroy it by financing crap like this