Human Traffic

As the weekend approaches, the working days come to a close and the weekend of partying and forgetting everything else approaches. We follow a group of friends from their jobs to their Friday night highs. Jip is having erection problems, Koop mistrusts his girlfriend, Lu has just split from her most recent boyfriend and Nina is preparing to let her brother take E for the first time. They all hate their jobs, but the weekend gives them an opportunity to get away.

When this came out it got both horrible reviews and good reviews, so I didn't know totally what to expect, but I expected to hate it because it marked itself out from the very start as one of those very self-aware 'youf' movies. However, although that's exactly what it is, I did actually enjoy it nonetheless. There is not a plot so much as a weekend experience and it does struggle at times without a frame of any sort. However while it is hitting the spot and being energetic and funny it doesn't matter. The odd time it tries to give the characters specific issues or lives it tends to hurt itself but for the majority it works.

The script is funny with nice imaginative touches blended with real life club/drug culture/pub culture references and settings to make it identifiable and interesting. I suppose it very much depends on who you are. If you are not part of that scene or have no knowledge of it then it may just seem like a big pointless waste of time. For me, much of it was recognisable regardless of what I have done or have not done. While some of it was unknown to me, I still found it funny and was able to relate to much of it. It is very clear about it's stance on drugs (with a not-so-subtle clip of Bill Hicks just to ram the point home) but at least it shows the immediate bad side if not the longer lasting effects; the comedown/hangover scenes are pretty much fair and balanced, as are the scenes of enjoyment and fun brought by drugs. However to compare this film to Trainspotting is a joke! The latter was very clearly showing a balanced view of drugs, whereas this film is less balanced, and is more about the pleasure, being aimed at the user market.

The cast are young and lively and deal well with the material without ever impressing. Parkes seems the most comfortable with his role, although Davies convinces in a speeded up dealer performance. Simm is lumbered with the narration but does OK but there are no really good female characters compared to the men.

Overall this is worth seeing if you can relate to it and get laughs from seeing people you recognise in the characters. However if, after 10 minutes you can't see what the point of the whole thing is and it just seems noisy and stupid then it's likely not aimed at you and you're better off without it. Either way it isn't great but if you get it, it is energetic and funny enough to watch.