Spike Island

This film is set in England in 1990 and is about a group of friends in a band who desperately want to go to a Stone Roses concert and hand them a demo tape.

The first hour of the film offers very little, although the main character is struggling with his father dying. There seems to just be a bunch of hooligans running around having fun while waiting on a scalper to supply the concert tickets. Once the group actually get to the concert, the film picks up, but is almost over by that point.

The film is worth a watch if you are a Stone Roses fan (I am), an Emilia Clarke fan ( I am) or if you grew up in England in the early nineties ( I did not).

A film about being young, carefree and the most important thing in your life being your favourite band. A great summer film with an amazing sound track (unless you don't like the Stone Roses).

It's May 1990, Great Britain, and The Stone Roses are about to play a monumental outdoor gig at Spike Island in Widnes, Cheshire. A bunch of teenage acolytes of the band, aspiring musicians themselves, embark on a journey to Spike Island whist at the same time embarking on personal journeys of the real life kind.

Us Brits do like ourselves a coming of age drama set to the backdrop of musical importance. Mat Whitecross (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll) taps into the era of Baggy Manchester, of a Northern Britain dominated by pills, thrills and romantic bellyaches. To many of a certain age The Stone Roses were "their" Beatles, a power pop foursome that rocked it big time, their influence on the British music industry is still being felt today. This in spite of their relatively short life span. Re: The Sex Pistols at Winterland, see The Stone Roses at Spike Island (in other words it was a pretty awful gig all told).

However, the band are secondary to the teen angst narrative threads, to the scallywag japes and sexual growing pains. As Messrs Ian Brown and John Squire weave their chordal magic in the background, a bunch of spotty Herbert's with mad mac haircuts and iffy accents try and make sense of it all, of life, death, loves and hates. Music binds them together, but does anything else?

It's all very formulaic stuff, but for those of the time, or for those with a love for how music can define your life, or at the least shape its direction, then this hits the requisite chords. It's funny at times and the cast are ebullient enough to carry the clichéd and thin material home, but come the finale you will be remembering the soundtrack more than the story itself. 6.5/10

As a British person, I felt a personal connection to this film - trust me, it got everything spot on! I liked this film a lot - it was your typical film bout a group of friends going on an adventure (Think Stand By Me if the characters were older and a lot more obsessed with girls and pop rock bands). It was fun, there were lot of laughs. But it was also more than that. It dealt with a lot of issues, subtly at least. The emphasis was on the music, but the underlying angst was there. I can't exactly put my finger on why I enjoyed this movie so much, but there it is: I liked it. Definitely worth a watch, and, of course, a listen to that soundtrack.

The UK is good at this...creating great cinema. Some of the drivel Hollywood is churning out at the moment (constant re-boots because they have frankly run out of ideas), makes you realise how good the UK film industry is at this game. I enjoyed this film immensely. One reason- I remember the time and music-I was 25 when this film was set, and I remember the big furore around The Stone Roses. I didn't fall for it myself at the time. I was (and still am) a big fan of New Order, and they for me were the greatest Manchester band, but fair play to the fans of the Roses, everyone likes different things. The film is a bright, very watchable, and at times funny experience, each character played very well. The film doesn't always follow the rules of predictability-I won't spoil it, but certain aspects could have turned out differently, but the writers didn't go down that route, and I found it better for it. All in all, if you like The Stone Roses it's a no brainer-see this film. Music fan? See this film. Great soundtrack too. 8/10.