The Low Down

I am taken aback by all the bad reviews. It glued me to the screen from the get go. The acting is superb, the characters nuanced and believable, the eye of the camera loving and inquisitive. I don't rate it a ten only because the ending is a bit facile. Maybe I especially empathised with this film because I am of that very generation and it all feels very real, very familiar - it didn't bring tears of nostalgia but it was almost too close to the bone. It reminds me of the Aldo Busi quote "What remains of all the pain we believed to suffer as youngsters?".

I just saw the DVD of The Low Down and it was time not well spent. I'd rather stand in line at the Post Office or buy a goldfish and watch that move around his bowl for a few hours than experience this movie again. There is no story in this movie, other than watching people live their ordinary lives and face their ordinary fears. The main characters are kept very shallow and the viewer has to decide what they are actually feeling. Not a very bad starting point for an intelligent movie if it weren't for the poor acting and even worse camera work. The feeling rises that a few film students have been given a camera and some government sponsored budget to create a picture about how complete losers live their lives. Too bad it was ever released... Rating is a 1 out of 5

A soft and subtle film that I found quite dreamy and languid. It doesn't knock you over but seeps into you. It is very English, and it's all about the characters and scenes which are very real. I found it a very natural film, where you didn't feel you were pushed along to a climax but were happy to be on a travelator with these characters. Film doesn't always have to be about escapism, where there are Tom Clancy storylines, glossy set ups and oohs, and ahs; instead this is a personal film which might make you think and feel.

I've lived in North London, and I'm a similar age to that of the characters in the film, so for me everything in the film rang very true. It's great to watch a film that truly comes out of a real culture, and very refreshing to observe real comments on life, rather than just recognise well worn stereotypes. The interaction of the group of friends - the lines that people in relationships spin, when they say one thing, but mean something entirely different. A great film - funny & warm, and highly recommended.

The lives of a group of lonely London losers comes under the spotlight in Jamie Thraves' film 'The Low Down'. As a director, Thraves is very keen on breaking up the flow of images, and disconnecting them from the dialogue, a trick annoying enough when Soderbergh does it, but frankly plain odd in this film, which is otherwise unassuming and generally low-key. The script is good at the sort of dialogue spoken by people who don't really know each other very well, or like each other very much, but who pass the time in each other's company for the want of anything better to do, and there are some funny moments. But there's little real warmth on show, and little explanation provided for the characters's disaffection: pointless moody shots of overflying aircraft aren't really adequate for this purpose. Overall, it's a bit of a waste of the beauty of Kate Ashfield, and a forgettable movie.