Somers Town (2008)

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Shane Meadows is an under-acknowledged genius, and in this short film about the friendship between two boys, lippy Tomo and drippy Marek, all of his strengths are on view (in spite of its brevity): the ability to coach brilliant performances out of largely unproven casts, hilarious yet real dialogue, simple but atmospheric cinematography and an excellent soundtrack provided by his long-term friend and collaborator Gavin Clark. It's true, that not a lot happens, but it's an utterly moving paean to the virtues of simple companionship in a lonely world. The setting near Kings Cross reminded me of Mike Leigh's 'High Hopes', another film whose strength is its affection for its characters; 'Somers Town' is a slighter film, but a perfectly realised one.

Shane Meadows is undoubtedly a filmmaker of immense talent capable of producing powerful movies but he seems to have wandered off the path a little here and seems a little bemused by the distractions he has stumbled upon. This story of the unlikely friendship between a working class Nottingham lad and the son of a Polish labourer in London contains only the most cursory of plots, and as the film unfolds the suspicion grows that, even at little more than an hour long, there's a little too much padding here. There are two musical montages - one, in colour, which may be a dream or wish-fulfilment sequence - and a sub-plot about the relationship between Marek and his hard-drinking father that goes nowhere.Lack of a storyline isn't necessarily a bad thing (and despite the negative tone of this review Somers Town isn't a bad film), but if a filmmaker is going to rely on observation in a character-driven tale then those characters have to be interesting. The youngsters give decent performances - especially Thomas Turgoose, who also appeared in Meadows' This Is England, and the director's eye for detail means that the film doesn't feel boring, but once it's over you're left wondering what the point was - and the significance (or wisdom) of having Turgoose's character ending up wearing a dress and dusting knick-knacks like a midget housewife near the film's conclusion.

Tomo (Turgoose) moves from Nottingham to London in the hope of a new start and befriends Marek (Jagiello), a Polish immigrant who has a crush on Maria (Lasowski) After viewing Shane Meadows impressive drama This is England this 2008 drama sounded very appealing and I am glad to say the same level of drama and sophistication is as present as it was in 2006 and with the same level of issues and entertainment present, this makes engaging viewing, if not as passionate as his previous release.One of the main reasons Somers Town isn't as strong as the Bafta winner is Thomas Turgoose's protagonist Tomo. Turgoose was exceptionally strong in This is England, bringing that level of vulnerability to a bullied school boy and yet expressing his enjoyment through his actions. Here we see him as an over eager selfish teenager looking to start afresh with new friends. When looking at modern day stereotypes in British cinema you may recall the gangster figure in Kidulthood or the dreamer in My Summer of Love. Here we see almost a mix between the two. Tomo isn't afraid to say what he feels and do what he wants. His language is appalling, his expectancy of everyone comes too easily and he is so irritating the stop button on your remote control will be exceptionally tempting. Turgoose does well to portray the stereotype but all things considered the character is something else in modern society. A dramatic instalment is Tomo but the character development and the way it is handled in the latter part is appreciative and almost heart warming, with a few twists thrown in.Piotr Jagiello is very impressive as Polish immigrant Marek. Quiet, unassertive and desperate we feel his situation with his father and can take comfort from his desperation for a normal life. Elisa Lasowski is included briefly but makes a startling impression in this dramatic tale of friendship.Tackling ideologies of friendship and family this film delivers in a way only British cinema can, by taking the issue from its very core and spinning it on a realistic portrayal. Having the film set in black and white makes these concepts feel that extra dramatic and therefore more powerful.Meadows' direction is tackled very delicately with some artistic soft shots thrown in to appreciate the story in context, including a wonderful montage in the closing stages. The relaxing score further engrosses viewers into the sentimental story.Whereas this isn't as strong as Meadows' other film, Somers Town takes comfort from a passionate collection of protagonists and thrives on the drama of real life.

Somers Town is endless - in the very literal meaning of the word.The opening minutes of this nicely shot black and white piece, set just north of London's Marylebone Road, are wonderfully atmospheric and you settle into your seat with a sense that you are about to be greatly entertained in some way, such is the deftness of the set-up. The acting is uniformly excellent and you quickly warm to the plight of all the characters. So far so wonderful.But, as any screenplay-writer or script-reader will tell you, the set-up is easy, it's writing a compelling story that's the tough part. Soon the unanswered questions start piling up. What is the lad from Nottingham running from and why is no one after him? Is the Polish lad's 'Dad' really his Dad (this one gets answered eventually) and why isn't he in some kind of school? And then we get to the point at which the film stops. And stop it does because there is no ENDING. Just when the film seems to be changing up a gear and you are suckered into thinking some questions will be answered or resolved, you are left with a casually shot color sequence that would be poor as a mid-film montage but is an absolute stunner of a let-down as a resolution.The film-makers obviously worked so hard on this film. The sets, the wardrobe, the cinematography, the casting, the acting, the editing and much of the direction are all notable for their sharp and sensitive choices but whoever thought this casually tossed off last two minutes of color film was an ending or a resolution? With some thought, and some hard choices made over the keyboard over a couple of nights this could have been a truly remarkable film.What a shame for all concerned.