TWENTYFOURSEVEN
Reviewed by Harvey Karten, Ph.D. October Films Director: Shane Meadows Writer: Shane Meadows, Paul Fraser Cast: Bob Hoskins, Danny Nussbaum, James Nooton, Darren O. Campbell, Justin Brady
Liberals say that if only we had more social programs, we would need fewer prisons. Conservatives hold that many social programs are a waste of money and have no long- lasting benefits. If you look at Shane Meadows's debut directorial effort for a full feature "TwentyFourSeven" as a guide to her political views, you'll find indications that the English helmer is playing both sides. Meadows, whose previous labors have been for the two short tilms, "Smalltime" and "Where's the Money, Ronnie!" remains committed to the offbeat, her current film winning awards at film festivals at Venice, Toronto and Sundance.
The title is British slang for working at a project around the clock, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, a rather generic term that could apply to almost anything but in this case to the labor of a feisty guy who pledges himself to working with disaffected youth. Evoking memories of Danny Flynn's undertaking in Jim Sheridan's "The Boxer," "TwentyFourSeven" features Alan Darcy (Bob Hoskins) as a do-gooder who works in the English Midlands (Nottingham and environs) toward bringing a sense of purpose to a gang of teen wrecks--dopers and the like--who wander the depressing housing projects without a single healthy conviction. Enlisting the financial aid of the town richnik, a shadowy businessman named Ronnie Marsh (Frank Harper), Alan signs up his reluctant targets by winning a bet with them on the soccer field. He soon has a colorful group in his charge including the most self-destructive Gadget (Justin Brady), the overweight son of the financier who becomes Alan's assistant manager, and others who are as undisciplined as they are, in their way, charming. To bond the group further, he takes (again despite their reluctance) on a trip car trip to Wales, where they fish, enjoy the spartan scenery, and have a jolly old time.
Back home, the boys get into their training with lust, punching the bags, showing up regularly and on time, and looking forward to their first competition against a team known as the Stafforshire Terriers. What happens in the ring when one of Alan's disciples gets pummeled is both comical and sad. The result of some local mayhem results in permanent changes in the lives of the boys and Alan as well. In fact, Meadows opens the picture with a view of Darcy many years after his project, where he appears with a shaggy beard, dazed and confused, until he is taken in by one of the old gang.
Meadows is so intent on conveying the atmosphere of the dismal Midlands scene that he has had cinematographer Ashley Rowe photograph the movie in black and white, a good deal of the drama suffering from an overdose of darkness. At times it has the look of a 1920s silent film, cracking at the edges, put together with krazy glue to save it from disintegration. All of this is meant to mirror the decay of the neighborhood, of course, but the viewer cannot be blamed for becoming weary watching these visuals and, to boot, listening to occasionally indecipherable accents from Midlands to Cockney.
The principal merit of "TwentyFourSeven" is not in its examination of a social program gone awry but in its showcasing the talent of Bob Hoskins whose role embodies both intensely personal moments and vigorous rah-rah coaching. His clumsiness and sentimentality are brought out in the best scenes, his attempt to court an irresolute shopkeeper (Jo Bell) and his turns around a ballroom floor with his Auntie Iris (the noted character actress, Pamela Cundell).
Not Rated. Running time: 96 minutes. (C) Harvey Karten 1998
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