Once Upon a Time in the Midlands

I generally like Shane Meadows, his honest writing and depiction of what early 21st century average life in Britain is actually like, is both appealing and refreshing.

This one (I re-watched after many years and seen all his later work) is just a bit of a tangled mess (hence my summary title). It was great to watch the great Kathy Burke in a dominant (yes!) role now that she's concentrating on theatre direction these days. Also, her screen hubbie, a rather ridiculous wannabe country singer in the shape of Ricky Tomlinson.

Robert Carlyle plays to form as a real piece of ***t who is after getting his ex back. I soon found his constant shouting, swearing and nastiness wearying and Ryhs Ifans' counter example, as poor Shirley Henderson's dopey, lily-livered 'boyfriend' equally annoying. I wanted to shout out loud 'forget them both', but this being drama, the opposite happens of course.

The lighter moments, I suppose were intended to punctuate this domestic misery with an air of humanity. But, most of the time, they look stupidly careless, leaving you unsure whether they were intentional, or not. I did like the overall premise, especially at the end, when the subversive comparison to the classic western becomes apparent, though the setting is a modern English city's housing estate over a hundred years later. The Sierra Cosworth being the equivalent of a wild stallion...?

Meadow's work, though, is always of much merit and the fact that he has gotten himself a niche and etched himself a position on that elite panel of independent Brit directors whose work is admired equally by critics and public alike, is to be much admired. It also means that this quite early offering from him is still above average.

Within the space of only a couple of years and with only his third film, Shane Meadows has joined Ken Loach and Mike Leigh as one of the (now) three British Directors whose films are simply unmissable by virtue of their director. Softer and gentler and therefore more accessible than either of it's predecessors, "Once upon a time in the Midlands" is a delight from start to finish. While "Twentyfourseven" and "A Room for Romeo Brass" were almost neo-realist in the Italian sense of the term, "Once upon a time ..." (the title alone eludes to the 'Italian' westerns) makes no such claims on "realism" reworking instead the classic western formula and laying it down in, of all places, Nottingham.

Shirley and Dec are happily unmarried in their extended family that comprises Shirley's daughter by her former partner Jimmy as well as Jimmy's foster-sister Carol and her country-and-western mad husband Charlie and their children. Things come to a head right at the start of the film when Dec proposes to Shirley on one of those dreadful TV audience participation shows (Sorry, Vanessa!) and she turns him down. Cue Jimmy, who has seen the show up in Glasgow, to ride into town to claim back Shirley.

What begins as broad comedy soon turns, if not quite sour, then at least darker and more poignant. Meadows' achievement is to allow his characters to behave humanely and realistically in situations that are often one step removed from 'realism' (and this time round he allows us the privilege of a happy ending). And if, in the end, it is this sense of the magical that detracts from the hammer-blows of "Romeo Brass" it remains a pleasure to spend a couple of hours in the company of these people.

The performances are, of course, superb (and Meadows is the best director of children working in cinema that I can think of). We expect nothing less of Kathy Burke and Robert Carlisle and Ricky Tomlinson but it is Shirley Henderson and Rhys Ifans as Shirley and Dek who are truly magnificent (they make you care deeply what happens to them) and as Shirley's daughter Finn Atkins is a real find.

I have just spent a couple of hours recently in the company of the characters who peopled Ken Loach's "Sweet Sixteen" and while admiring the brilliance of Loach's technique, still staggered out of the cinema in a state approaching despair. The lives of the people in Meadows' film aren't necessarily much better but, by God, there's hope there and for now that will do very nicely, thank you.

`Once upon a time in the midlands' is the next instalment from Nottingham director Shane Meadows, indeed it concludes his `Nottingham trilogy' along with previous efforts `Twentyfourseven' and `A Room for Romeo Brass'

I saw this film at its world premier as part of Directors fortnight at Cannes, and I am glad to say that it surpassed all my expectations. It's a tale of a loner Jimmy (Robert Carlyle) who by chance manages to see his ex, Shirley (Shirley Henderson) on a television show turning down a proposal from her new boyfriend on national television, this prompts Jimmy to return to Nottingham and try to win her back, along with the Daughter (a brilliant debut from 12 year old Finn Atkins) he also left years previously. There's just a few problems for Jimmy on the way, Shirley's wimpy yet loving new bloke Dek (Rhys Ifans), Jimmys mouthy step sister and her wannabe country singer husband (Kathy Burke and Ricky Tomlinson) not forgetting his shady friends who pursue him down south after he rips them off after a strange robbery goes horribly wrong.

All members of the cast shine and its fun to see a `western' style angle being adopted – the classic tale of a loner coming into town to win back his girl, chased by villains and ready for a final confrontation with the man who his girl is now hooked up with. I hope this film gets the exposure it deserves when its released in the UK.

The hidden theme in this film is insipid. The daughter Marlene is the adult, while her parents, Jimmy and Shirley, are still children. Jimmy's primary school labeled him the toughest little booger in his class, and he still absurdly relishes the role. Shirley is a silly oversized thirteen-year-old who has two boys interested in her, and she flits back and forth between them as her adolescent whims take her. However, Marlene (the chronological child) is the adult who knows exactly what's best for all. Dek is also a grown-up: responsible, hard-working and kind, although naive.

Near the end Marlene wants to run away with Dek. This wasn't a bad idea. Allowing for another ten years or so for Marlene to come of age, the two of them might have been a very happy, stable couple.

Shane Meadows' first film, 'TwentyFour Seven', was dark, intense and arty; his second, 'A Room for Romeo Brass', is one my favourite movies, atmospheric, wildly funny and moving. But this, his third film, is not quite as brilliant, and indeed Meadows has acknowledged it as something of a wrong turn. Compared to it's predecessors, the mood is less claustrophobic, the humour a bit broader brush, and ultimately the movie is less poignant. Perhaps part of the problem is that whereas one of the highlights of Meadows' earlier films were the brilliant performances he coaxed out of largely unknown actors (Bob Hoskins was just about the only name of note in them), this film features a regular gallery of Brit-acting talent: Robert Carlyle, Kathy Burke, Ricky Tomslinson and Rhys Ifans. And while I have enjoyed movies featuring all of these actors, it's a bit hard, especially in the case of Tomlinson, to really see them in their roles, as opposed to as themselves. Sometimes, they almost seem to be performing too hard to fit into Meadows' sparsely filmed backdrops. One can also note that the cod-western theme is pursued with insufficient vigour to really define the movie. I don't want to be too harsh on the film overall, because there are still some very funny moments and excellent acting from Shirley Henderson and the young Finn Atkins. But it's certainly less ambitious than its two predecessors, which set the highest of standards by which to judge their successors.