Papadopoulos & Sons

Set in and around suburban London, PAPADOPOULOS AND SONS focuses on the fortunes of Harry (Stephen Dillane) as he falls from being an award-winning self-made millionaire into a fish-and-chip-shop owner. Along the way he re-encounters brother Theo (Thomas Underhill) with whom he has not spoken for several years, and discovers that family loyalty and daily industry are more important ingredients for happiness rather than filthy lucre.

A familiar tale, no doubt; but one that is given particular poignancy by its background. The Papadopoulos family came to Britain in the wake of the Cyprus civil war in 1974; only two of the three brothers survived, and their childhood experiences still scar their adult lives. The fact that a Turkish Cypriot family, headed by Hasan (George Savvides) owns a kebab shop opposite the fish-and- chip-shop is something rather disturbing for the Papadopulos family, reminding them of past conflicts.

Yet director Marcus Markou seems uncertain as to whether he wants to explore the family's traumas in detail or to exploit the material for knockabout laughs. Harry's business associate Rob (Ed Stoppard) comes across as a figure of fun, so obsessed with money that he cannot appreciate any other values. In the end employee Sophie (Cosima Shaw) an American divorcée becomes so tired of Rob's posturing that she quits her job and opts for a life of drudgery in the chip shop.

In the end all turns out well, as the family, their friends and the Turkish Cypriots indulge in a Greek dance in the street outside the shop. But we cannot help but feel that Markou has shied away from exploring his material and his characters in greater depth so as to provide a happy ending.

Nice camera-work but the lack of storyline severely limits this film's potential. Although it looks good the story never really develops and there are huge leaps of both imagination and plot.

At times there is a strong flavour of the work of Mike Leigh but this cannot detract from the fact that the film itself is so boring. It is so slowly paced, there is so little in the story for one to feel empathy for the characters and the story itself is so stilted that you are left checking how much more of the film there is to endure barely half an hour into it.

Very unsatisfying fare. Like cutting into crispy batter to find no fish inside.

Such a lovely unexpected delight. A film about love, family, money and getting perspective on life. Well worth a watch.

Despite not being anywhere near the league of great film, still it is one of the better British films of recent times, in the sense that we get to escape from the council estates and the thugs they supposedly breed as well as the horrible language that makes one wanting to have a shower after a screening.

We follow the story of two brothers who migrated from Cyprus to England, one of whom became a millionaire and fully embraced the British ways whilst the other did not do so well and remained faithful to his routes and culture.

There is real warmth conveyed in this film and the importance of family is never underestimated, again a non-entry in many British films. In a short space of time we undergo a journey of emotions, hopes, aspirations and sadness that is a part in an immigrant's life.

A man goes from top to bottom and struggles to come to terms with the new reality of both the situation and the fact that he has to give up his ultra posh life and move to a lower middle class neighbourhood. Whilst we can rush to assume him as a snob, the truth is that he isn't; the issue he has is not so much encountering his brother and the old life, but the fact that as far as he was concerned all this was left behind him and simply moved on to a different place.

Despite the presence of elements that could potentially have made this a gem of a film, somehow it is rather corny (or simply not aimed high enough) and that reduces it to a warming, charming family comedy.

Papadopoulos and sons

I think some of the reviews on here are unnecessarily harsh towards what is nothing more than a gentle family movie about a family surviving after a fall from grace, and suffering some hard times.

The father was forced to understand the important things in life and appreciate all the unmonetised elements that may life joyful and give it meaning.

Yes there was some clunky moments, yes some of the acting by Steven Dillane was a little wooden but this is what he chose for the role and I agree Spiro was a very annoying brother. But overall I really enjoyed the journey and there were some very touching moments.

I'm giving this. Firm 7 outta 10.