Home Page | Alphabetic Index | Ratings Index | Web Resources

TwentyFourSeven (1997)

A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1998
A refreshingly local production, TwentyFourSeven demonstrates the gulf that exists between a director who understands his characters and one who doesn't. For the majority of Midlander youths, their birthplace is a desert of opportunity; there's little to stimulate body and mind. In consequence, though not inevitably, many fall into gangs and cause trouble through sheer boredom. Alan Darcy (Bob Hoskins) can see this, which is why he's keen to resurrect the old 101 Boxing Club. Darcy remembers how the club kept him off the streets; his problem is convincing the delinquents of today.

Darcy's first victory is in the arena of community relations. Two factions have taken to public brawling, inciting each other with insults and slights. Darcy convinces them, in a triumph of negotiation, to throw their punches inside the ring. Thus Stuart (Karl Collins), Benny (Johann Myers) and Youngy (Anthony Clarke) turn up at the 101 with Darcy, grateful for the chance to get even with their drug-head rivals. By reputation and action, these bad lads bring everyone down; Knighty (James Hooton), Daz (Darren O. Campbell), Gadget (Justin Brady), Tim (Danny Nussbaum) and Meggy (Jimmy Hynd) think it's cool to act the fool. So how come the only winner here seems to be their dope dealer Fagash (Mat Hand)?

The most immediately remarkable aspect of writer-director Shane Meadows is that he hasn't departed his neighbourhood on the rocket of marketable talent. Given the squalid condition and desperation of TwentyFourSeven you'd think that Meadows might wish to leave Nottingham far behind. Instead he undermines this expectation by staying close to home and making a film about the people who live there. It's this spirit that makes TwentyFourSeven special, injecting the script (co-written by Paul Fraser) with empathy. Both feel the speech patterns of the area, the vocabulary in common use and the thoughts that remain implied, but their grasp of the situation runs deeper. They have a handle on familial politics, the way in which individuals affect others by association; such are the dynamics underpinning TwentyFourSeven.

In bringing this social waltz to life, Meadows makes few concessions to his new feature-length status. Beyond the realist screenplay, Meadows' cast is overwhelmingly composed of eager unknowns, the photography retains an amateur's quantity of hand-held shots and the soundtrack is drawn from the work of a single group. His biggest tweak seems to be the casting of Hoskins, giving this familiar face a role of dimension and powerful futility. As most would predict, Hoskins dominates TwentyFourSeven, reaching into the heart of Darcy and daubing his features with the weakness found there. In contrast, it's near impossible to separate the youngsters; they function as an amalgam, generic thugs. The problem is not that the actors lack potential, more that there's not enough screen time to hand round. After the fact, none have made an imprint on the viewer's memory.

TwentyFourSeven, photographed by Ashley Rowe, certainly looks good (notwithstanding earlier comments). Black & white stock complements the subject matter, stirring up kitchen-sink recollections, while delicate focus lends a dream-like tinge. It suggests that Darcy's success is too good to be true, that you can survive but never escape the trap of being conceived here. TwentyFourSeven is no Raging Bull though, despite a superficial similarity that extends to the use of classical music. In amongst the original score of Boo Hewerdine and Neil MacColl, Meadows positions Strauss to reasonable effect. It's an important point because the film has a fairly traditional structure, three acts of fast-slow-fast pace. The numerous dialogue-free transitions require, and get, strong tunes to ferry us across their breadth.

Sure, there's a fair weight of dramatic license being taken when Darcy brings the youths together but, in context, it's reasonable. Without a hit of fictional speed TwentyFourSeven would be a tale going nowhere, slowly. The point to concentrate on is that the familiar story and its mechanics are not important, it's the environment and universal themes that bite. Meadows draws out the terrible emptiness of the environment, the culture of violence and systematic neglect felt by his characters. It doesn't matter that TwentyFourSeven is mildly erratic and that the acting (with the exception of Hoskins) is enthusiastic; the film has more compassion and sympathy than a million Hollywood blockbusters. It has a heart, the capacity to inspire hope and lift the grey smog of existence. Rare qualities indeed.

Home Page | Alphabetic Index | Ratings Index | Web Resources