16 Years of Alcohol (2003)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Richard Jobson

Writer:

Richard Jobson (written by)

Release Date:

30 July 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Bully | Kicked In The Face | Sex In Public | Stabbed In The Stomach | Acting Lesson

Awards:

4 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Kevin McKidd	...	Frankie
Laura Fraser	...	Helen
Susan Lynch	...	Mary
Jim Carter	...	Dirctor
Ewen Bremner	...	Jake
Elaine C. Smith	...	AA meeting woman
Kate Robbins	...	Fighting couple woman
Marcia Rose	...	Female Actor
Lewis Macleod	...	Frankie's Father
Lisa May Cooper	...	Frankie's Mother
Gerald Lepkowski	...	Male actor
Iain De Caestecker	...	Frankie as a boy
Stuart Sinclair Blyth	...	Miller
Russell Anderson	...	Kill
Michael Moreland	...	Budgie

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive language, some violent content and sexual material.

Runtime:

Switzerland:102 min | USA:102 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | Iceland:16 | New Zealand:R16 | UK:18 | USA:R | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Company:

Tartan Works Ltd.

Movie Connections:

References Enter the Dragon (1973)

Soundtrack:

Fields of Athenry

arty attempt at the 'rehabilitated alcoholic' story

This is on one level a very gritty story of alcohol abuse and violence; on another it is an aesthetically realised elegy to hope and hopelessness. The beautiful images of historic Edinburgh are used unpretentiously as a backdrop to mindlessly savage beatings and physical intimidation, cinematic techniques involving varied use of lighting, colour, slow motion and overt symbolism. In one scene, the dead-end nature of the lives of people in a bar is demonstrated by showing them as corpses, seated with their drinks and covered in cobwebs, as the main protagonist looks on and questions his own downward-spiralling life of drink and vengeance. There is some light in the character of Helen, an art school graduate whose love might inspire hoodlum Frankie to give up his drunken brawling loud-mouthed ways, but ultimately the story of the slow and painful attempts of an alcoholic to reform himself will be too easily forgotten. The artistic attempts of writer/director and former Skids band-member Richard Jobson are what make the biggest impression – it remains to be seen whether Jobson can subsequently produce of work of creative genius rather than something that simply suggests considerable talent.