Good and Bad at Games (1983) (TV)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Jack Gold

Writer:

William Boyd (writer)

Release Date:

December 1983 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Ten years after graduation, Cox, bullied and constantly humiliated in his schooldays, seeks out his former classmates in order to be revenged. |

Plot Keywords:

Cricket Game | Boarding School | Revenge | Bullying

Cast

Martyn Stanbridge	...	Niles
Anton Lesser	...	Cox
Laura Davenport	...	Frances
Dominic Jephcott	...	Mount
Frederick Alexander	...	Joyce
Graham Seed	...	Harrop
Ewan Stewart	...	Colenso
Ceri Jackson	...	Girl
Philip Goodhew	...	Tregear
Tristram Wymark	...	Boy
Rupert Graves	...	Guthrie

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Channel 4 Television Corporation

Soundtrack:

Badge

There is a compelling argument for its reissue on DVD.

I am presently reading "BAMBOO" by William Boyd & immediately ran to IMDb to see if there was any information on his disturbing filmed insights to bullying at school. Regrettably, as has been noted by many respondents, "Good and Bad at Games" has been consigned to the mothballs by Channel Four, which is strange, seeing that they have made Film Four free to air & show some good retrospective films. When compared with the crap that is shown recently - "Big Brother" - and similar pap, it would be salutary for a new generation to see some of the really good productions of the 1980s. I think of "Among Barbarians"; "The Happy Valley"; "Another Time, Another Place"; The "Country Matters" series of HE Bates short stories such as "The Little Farm" and think they still have the power to move and thrill. These were all gems, and never date. Boyd is probably the best chronicler of school days (Try "Dutch Girls") & makes "Tom Brown" look tame. In particular, he is spot on when he traces some of his schoolmates' careers after the monastic confinement of 10 years at a public school. He remarks that the only way to survive is to get out before the end. I did & know what he means, especially when I hear so many of my old school friends reminiscing, almost in tears, about the glory days when they scored "50 not out". All of the popular ones are comparative failures, many joining the army or navy and forever talking about the thrashings they got. No wonder so many are incapable of a human relationship with a woman & go to whores to recapture the joys of enemas; floggings & Castor oil!