This Is England

This movie surprised the hell out of me. I had watched the trailer about a month ago, and was very impressed by what I saw. So I made a long trek, to a far away theater to watch this film, and I came away feeling it was well worth it. Movie follows Shaun, a young boy without a Father and a huge chip on his shoulder. He's picked on for minor things, like his pants, that then escalate into fighting. Shaun, played by Thomas Turgoose, is only eleven... but he is hands down brilliant in this film. If continues getting quality, and mature parts like this movie he will be huge in the world of film. He literally acted like he had been doing it for twenty years. One scene he kisses a girl, and they really kiss no Hollywood B.S. and he looked like a pro. The girl he kisses even says, "You look eleven but you kiss like your forty." It made for a great movie experience to watch such a natural talent be on screen. Not to say that there weren't other strong performances in the movie, but since the focal point is centered around Shaun, his performance shined the most.

Basically the film is about Shaun joining a group of Skinheads, in 1983 England. The ones he befriends are all around nice people. The stick up for each other, they talk out their differences and don't show any indifference to others. Then Combo, played by Stephan Graham, gets released from jail. His return changes and splits the group apart. His first night out of the slammer he's telling a prison story to a bunch of teenagers, and he's using a lot of racial terms. There Skinheads, is what your thinking, why would they care? Well this group happens to have a Jamaican member. This is one of the most powerful scenes of the movie, the leader of the group Woody, looks over to his girlfriend Lol. They mouth to each other about wanting to just go, but of course Woody just can't. You can tell in that scene that things are not going to be the same. Shane Meadows, the writer and director does a fabulous job, not only with the actors and story, but with his overall ability of story telling and camera work. It's very rare anymore to watch a movie and to be left wanting more. More interaction with the characters, more dialog, and resolution. What happened next, where did everyone go from there? I couldn't stop thinking about the characters lives and what dynamic they would be living in if the movie had continued. My hat is off to Mr. Meadows for accomplishing such a feat. Bravo.

Here's where I must stop, because I really don't want to tell you too much. If you're interested in seeing the trailer then look no farther. If you're lucky you'll have a theater that has this movie, or you may end up driving. Hopefully it will get a bigger push and pick up some more theaters, if one happens to be closer to my house I'll definitely slap down the money to see it again.