Once Upon A Time In The Midlands
A curate's egg, this one.
As usual, amazing natural performances from the young members of the cast, especially Finn Atkins as the daughter, Marlene.
It's also pretty engaging and funny.
It was, however, a mistake to cast 'big' stars in the main roles - in contrast to the perfomance of the unknown actors, the performances from Ricky Tomlinson, Kathy Burke, Rhys Ifans and Robert Carlyle seemed mannered and over the top. You just didn't believe in the characters - it would have been a more successful film if Meadows had relied on his usual troupe of actors and a bunch of unknowns.