TwentyFourSeven (1998)

Best movie ever!

Absolutely Brilliant!

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

In one of many great British movies, a man (Bob Hoskins) helps working-class youths try to make something of themselves in an economically depressed town in England. It is the first time that they can ever be anything greater. But then tragedy strikes and the whole thing falls apart. The gritty "24 7: Twenty Four Seven" is no ordinary make-something-of-yourself story. The grainy black and white cinematography makes you feel like there's sandpaper rubbing against your face, and they certainly don't sugar-coat anything here. It's a movie that I recommend to everyone. Just don't expect anything "nice". A very good debut from Shane Meadows.

A gritty black & white film from the 25 year old director, Shane Meadows. Darcy, (played by Bob Hoskins in one of his better roles since MONA LISA & THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY), decides to take a bunch of restless teenagers off the streets and into the boxing ring. Then we go through the process of the bonding and the struggle as the boys come good. It begins as a realistic social drama and ends that way. I was glad to see that it didn't sell out.

"Twentyfourseven" is not an easy movie to watch, actually I found it quite difficult, but well worth it. The story chronicles one man's attempt to bring meaning and purpose to a group of working-class youths in a grimy English city. Bob Hoskins plays Alan Darcy a sweet, well-meaning man trying to do good against insurmountable odds. Shot in black-and-white the visual despair of the public housing projects and the almost bombed-out urban landscape highlights the dark mood of the film. Why should these unemployed young men care about Darcy's dream? They're on the dole and have their alcohol, drugs and football. Why bother? This is Darcy's challenge. The excellent ensemble cast brings life to the rather loose, not-so-good script. But the actors pull it off admirably and provide us with a good, although disturbing film. Definitely not Saturday-night-lite, rent-a-video with the family stuff, but still very good. If you're in the mood.

TwentyFourSeven is a pleasing film from director Shane Meadows who also acted and co-wrote the screenplay. Rather sensibly for a first-time endeavour, he's opted for a low-key work rather than the flashy fragmented works of other young debutantes (Guy Ritchie please take note).The story is alarmingly simple and is thus: Alan Darcy (Bob Hoskins, excellent) helps out wayward youths in a harsh Northern town by running a boxing club. And that, basically, is it. The film perhaps plays on too narrow a canvass and it's "life is harsh" rhetoric can be mildly overstated. Witness the habitual drug user who turns up to a bout with the largest spliff in history. This guy does drugs, and in case you don't get the point, here's a telescopic joint that would bankrupt Columbia. Bruce Jones' wife-beater can also be a little one-dimensional, saved only by the actors' charm. Yet the fact that the screenplay is so modest in it's ambitions helps it immensely. A lesser talent would have thrown everything at the screen for his first full-length work, yet Meadows tells his tale and tells it well.Dialogue that could veer towards slight pretention is saved by the wonderful Hoskins, while the real triumph is the black and white filming. This isn't the Schindler's List type of black and white; a dull grey that looks like a normal film with the colour control on your TV turned down. This is a dark, grimy black and white that takes away any contemporary restraints. Particularly notable are the scenes set against the woods and train car, and the pace they evoke. This is a film that doesn't drag but takes it's time with precision. It will entertain you and doesn't need to rush it. Impressive.