This is England

I was certain I was going to hate this one from the start.  I’m not a fan of the English Hooligan genre and remain unconvinced about writer/director Shane Meadows, seemingly a poor man’s Ken Loach.

Still I always liked 24/7 and I’d had too many recommendations to ignore.  It was an exceptional film that never took the easy road, those watching this to see some good times gang violence will be sorely disappointed.  The thugs in this film are for the most part not the simple stereotypes and the film successfully portrays the ways some people can fall into the worst kind of racist groups.  Stephen Graham may get to do the star psycho turn (and very well I might add) but it’s the young Thomas Turgoose that’s so engrossing.  His turn as the young initiate is more than a simple blank slate observer role.

Meadows recently released Somers Town again starring Turgoose and I’m looking forward to getting to it.  For UK viewers this seems to be on Film4 reasonably regularly check it out.
8/10