Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Danny Nussbaum | ... | Tim | |
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Toby | ... | Woody |
Bob Hoskins | ... | Alan Darcy | |
Bruce Jones | ... | Tim's Dad | |
Annette Badland | ... | Tim's Mother | |
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Justin Brady | ... | Gadget |
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James Hooton | ... | 'Wolfman' Knighty |
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Darren Campbell | ... | Daz |
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Krishan Beresford | ... | Young Darcy |
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Karl Collins | ... | Stuart |
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Anthony Clarke | ... | Youngy |
Johann Myers | ... | Benny | |
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Jimmy Hynd | ... | Meggy |
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Mat Hand | ... | Wesley Fagash |
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Dominic Dillon | ... | Court Security Man (as Lord Dominic Dillon of Eldon) |
In a typical English working-class town, the juveniles have nothing more to do than hang around in gangs. One day, Alan Darcy, a highly motivated man with the same kind of youth experience, starts trying to get the young people off the street and into doing something they can believe in: Boxing. Soon he opens a training facility which is accepted gratefully by them and the gangs start to grow together into friends. Darcy manages to organize a public fight for them to prove what they have learned. A training camp with hiking tours into the mountains of Wales forge the group into a tight-knit club society. With the day of the fight drawing closer, the young boxers get more and more excited. Written by Julian Reischl <julianreischl@mac.com>
British character acting at its gritty and often ugly best. Ultimately a tale of redemption set against the palsied urban underbelly of post Thatcher Britain. Stark monochrome landscapes and 'facescapes' parallel a discarded social class, drained of its own colour.
All set off by a notable soundtrack including stuff from The Charlatans, Sun House, Van Morrison and Paul Weller.
The main criticism I would level at this film is the lack of story-flow. Too many set pieces strung together to get 'the point' across. It lost its heart somewhere in post production I would guess.
On balance it's hardly a bundle of laughs BUT still worthy of a sound 8. (eight)