News

The U.K. mod revival of the late 1970s and 1980s was a retro-minded movement, albeit meshed a little with then-current trends: a bit of contemporary punk, a bit of midcentury Teddy Boy grease, all swirled together with a swagger that peaked in 1979’s time-capsule rock opera “Quadrophenia.” , “The Pebble and the Boy” forgets the present-day touch that made the earlier revival hip, presenting us with a pair of Zoomers on scooters who feel wholly middle-aged in conception and sensibility. The result is an exercise in retro-upon-retro nostalgia that feels as ill-defined as a Xerox of a Xerox, though die-hard dad mods will thrill to its styling and soundtrack.

“Once a mod, always a mod” is the mantra repeated by multiple characters in the course of writer-director Chris Green’s leanly plotted film, which, even across a scant 80-minute running time, manages to repeat itself in more ways than that alone.

Not even a storming soundtrack of mod classics can save a humdrum scooter-to-Brighton caper, which keeps its eye fatally on the rear-view mirror

Quadrophenia love dies hard. After July’s ill-fated cast reunion To Be Someone, now follows this humdrum standalone from the sentimental end of British cinema’s poverty row, seeking to capitalise on residual fondness for all things mod. The star is a scooter: a nifty runaround with two dozen rear-view mirrors , it’s a worthy steed for Patrick McNamee’s callow latter-day knight John Parker (geddit?) as he retraces his late dad’s tyre tracks from Burnhamland to Brighton. This journey – and the rite-of-passage it represents – encompasses legends of old Jam gigs, 1980s songs picking up where the first mods left off, and cameos from associate producer Patsy Kensit and Eldorado’s Jesse Birdsall.

Those mirrors prove symbolic of an entirely backward-looking enterprise. A prolific writer-director whose Me,...

"Once a Mod, always a Mod." Munro Films has released an official UK trailer for an indie drama titled The Pebble and The Boy, written & directed by filmmaker Chris Green. Inspired by Mod culture, The Pebble and The Boy is described as "a British road movie with a big heart. Director and writer Chris Green lives and breathes everything Mod – and that really shows. From the music, the fashion and the scooters, he gives the audience a glimpse into his world." A boy, his Dad's ashes and a Lambretta scooter... John embarks on a journey from Manchester to Brighton, the spiritual home of the Mods, to scatter his father's ashes. Starring Patrick McNamee as John, with Sacha Parkinson, Max Boast, Patsy Kensit, Ricci Harnett, and Jesse Birdsall. "It's fun, energetic and feel-good, all wrapped up in a great soundtrack." Get a look below. Here's the official UK trailer (+ quad poster...