A Room for Romeo Brass

It was so pleasurable to watch this lovely film about the quest for friendship and loyalty in an often cruel and punishing world. Meadows has been described as a Midlands Scorsese; however, to my mind there is a vein of sweetness, naivete, in Meadows' work, as in the man himself, that is absent from Scorsese's films. He captures, with reason - since much of his material is autobiographical - the jocular and tender aspects of working class life while rendering vividly the violence that can also lurk there. His dramas are always holding and infinitely endearing in a tough minded way. In this film, Meadows' love is obviously directed at the valiant and caring mothers, but he allows the fathers of the boys, who appear never to get it right, to finally redeem themselves, each in his own way.

In talking with Shane Meadows, I learned that he recruits his actors from the 6 - 20 year old group of actors in his town, and that he is very proud of the fact that, by this means, he can help them take a step toward extricating themselves from their hard lot in life. Shane Meadows is a survivor and an artist, one who has the heart and the enormous ability to give heart to others who must still find their way. Bravo!!!

This is a truly great film, not seen by enough people in my opinion, Shane Meadows is a breath of fresh air for the British film industry, and I won't hesitate to go and see his next film, on the strength, of his last two ( twentyfourseven, romeo brass ) While most british audiences are somewhat ignorant to quality films like this, and would rather watch overrated films like 'Lock Stock...' there is always a hardcore of fans for films like this. Shane Meadows is inspired by the likes of Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, possibly Britain's best independent directors, but Meadows adds a bit more 'cheer' to this film, who says its uncool to have a happy ending? Romeo and Gavin are twelve year old pals, who have a great understanding of each other, and their surroundings, but then their friendship is tested when Morrel ( Paddy Considine ) enters their life, at first he is a pal, but why is a grown man hanging around with two boys? he then wants to date Romeo's sister, little do they realise they are being drawn into a world of obsession, violence and desperation, will it all come good in the end? Watch out for the outstanding performance from Paddy Considine, it really is the best debut from an actor ever!

"A Room for Romeo Brass" starts with a funny sequence as we watch Romeo and his friend Gavin walking through town and as they arrive at the fish and chips shop, Romeo asks for a large family order, which he proceeds to devour by himself, as he has no intention of sharing his meal with his friend Gavin. When he arrives home he hands his mother and sister two small packets of whatever he hasn't eaten.

Shane Meadows, the director, and co-writer of this surprising small film knows a thing, or two, about young boys and the way they act toward one another. As it turns out, both Romeo and Gavin are neighbors and they are supposed to be best friends.

When Gavin, who seems to be handicapped, and walks with a limp, is attacked by the soccer bullies, Romeo comes to his aid, but he is overpowered. Out of nowhere comes Morrell, who defends the boys and send the tormentors packing. This savior is a man who is much older and doesn't fit in the picture. A bit later on in the movie, we know why he wanted to get closer to Romeo, especially, he craves for the beautiful Ladine, his sister. In pursuing the girl, Morrell is instrumental in separating the two friends.

The main reason for watching this film is Paddy Considine's work in it. Mr. Considine is a versatile actor who gives here a tremendous performance as Morrell. The young actors, notably Andrew Shim, and Ben Marshall appear to be naturals. Vicky McClure is good as Ladine.

It took a while to get used to the accents, as some of the dialog was lost. Shane Meadows is a new talent with a lot of promise and we look forward to his new ventures.

Hidden as it was in the BBC schedules, I nearly missed this gem of a film. Shane Meadows seems to improve with every picture, following up the raw promise of 'Small Time' and the almost great 'TwentyFourSeven' with this priceless jewel, which is proof that Meadows alone carries the torch of the British film industry forward amidst the Guy Ritchie pap we churn out on a regular basis.

Although the acting from some of the minor characters was a bit on the dodgy side, Paddy Considine shone as the socially inadequate Morrell and the two lads (and their fathers in a memorably frightening final scene) did a solid job. Credit must also go to the screenwriter Paul Fraser, who has breathed some life into the cliched, patronizing 'working class' sceenplays that featured in 'Brassed Off', or (worse) 'The Full Monty'. The usual 'working class' signifiers (a guest appearance by Kathy Burke, or chain smoking as a character trait) were thankfully missing.

'A Room For Romeo Brass' was an excellent piece of observation. The character Morrell brings back awful memories of acquaintances I had in my youth, and these people still hang around the estate like the foulest of stenches. The film replicated 'life' in a way that Danny Boyle would fail to comprehend.

There were some minor imperfections (for instance, the music was over the top), but Meadows is only 29, he has time to perfect his craft. For everyone disillusioned with British film and its compulsion to chase the dollar, this film will restore that lost faith.

I had my arm twisted to go and see this and was knocked out by the unsentimental acting of the two central young characters (Gavin and Romeo), as well as the brilliant accuracy of the dialogue (uncertain, banal and lyrical portrayals of tenderness and callousness coexisting wonderfully well). But I want to take this opportunity to talk about the cinema in which I saw it. The Plaza Community cinema in Crosby is absolutely brilliant for showing this film. it is run by a highly dedicated group of volunteers, whose leader (Janet) saved the cinema almost single handed from the ravages of the developers. It shows a great variety of films and is the nearest thing Merseyside gets to the Cornerhouse in Manchester. keep up the good work Janet.