BRASSED OFF
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
The distraught son, Phil (Stephen Tompkinson), rants in front of a shocked group in church. He blames the Tory party for the local mine's misfortunes. As they show him the exit, he stops to complain to a statue of the Virgin Mary. He wants to know why she has let Maggie Thatcher live while his father and the mine's band leader is ill.
Welcome to MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS recast as the coal miners' union struggle against management. Except for the periodic political diatribes, BRASSED OFF is a quite pleasant but rarely challenging formula picture that telegraphs every punch.
Pete Postlethwaite gives a moving but too frequently saccharine performance as Danny, the leader of the Grimley Colliery Band. Whereas Richard Dreyfuss was effusively optimistic, Postlethwaite is dead serious. His face seems incapable of smiles. Band conducting being business, he permits himself no frivolities or distractions, even if he coughs like he is certain to die at any moment.
The band has a proud history, having been started in 1881, and Danny reveres its legacy. The other band members are much less dedicated to the band, but they are bound to Danny.
When management wants to close the pit, the miners have to decide whether to take a management cash settlement and let it close or go on strike. (Writer and director Mark Herman's political agenda keeps getting in the way of logic. One scene has management bragging that they know the mine makes them a good profit, but they plan on closing it anyway. How this makes any sense is never explained. The film assumes that the audience is a priori on the side of the union, hence management can be completely and illogically stereotyped as evil incarnate without need for explanation.)
The band members and their families are dirt poor and obsessed with the vote, but not Danny. His singleness of purpose is directed totally to the band's winning the national championship. The tabulating of the union vote happens conveniently while they are playing at the semifinals. The band members say the band dies when the pit closes, but Danny sees the band living on forever in order to maintain its grand tradition. ("I love the band -- we all do -- but there's other things in life that are more important," reasons his son. "Not in my book," Danny solemnly replies.)
Although the rest of the band, other than Danny, seem to blend together, there is one whose acting rises above the others, Tara Fitzgerald as Gloria. Tara, who gave delightful performances in THE ENGLISHMAN WHO WENT UP A HILL, BUT CAME DOWN A MOUNTAIN, A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE and SIRENS, manages to charm the audience again. As the only female member of a previously all-male brass band, she gets both come-ons and grief from the others, but is eventually accepted.
The show teases us with an interesting romance between Gloria and Andy (Ewan McGregor from EMMA and TRAINSPOTTING), but refuses to develop the story. When they get to her flat, she asks, "Do you want to come up for a coffee?" But he responds, "I don't drink coffee." In a cute piece of dialog, she adds, "I haven't got any." Cut to the next morning and that is about all we get of that relationship. Too bad since the preliminary chemistry between them is quite intriguing.
Like the truncated relationship between Gloria and Andy, the families of the married miners make brief appearances with the sole purpose of tearing at our heartstrings. When Phil's wife leaves him and takes the kids, he becomes morose, what with that and the problems at the mine. His son, missing his grieving dad, tells his mom, "I don't want to see Dad sad, mom, but I'd rather see him sad than not see him at all." A telling commentary on the effect of divorce on children.
As soon as you hear the film's setup, you can write the movie's conclusion yourself. Yes, after a manipulative sequence designed to force you to tears, there is the obligatory and completely predictable ending. Only a minor twist changes it slightly, but the writer is so afraid of breaking formula that the twist is taken back as soon as it is introduced.
BRASSED OFF's best part is its rousing and beautiful music of a type rarely heard in movies. Just ignore the movie's heavy political dogma, accept that you know its conclusion, and kick back and enjoy the music and the sweet acting.
BRASSED OFF runs 1:45. It is rated R for a little bad language. Given the film has no sexuality, no nudity, no drugs, and nothing other than a couple of bad words that I missed but supposedly were there, I would consider the film basically PG. Kids need to be about 9 or so to be interested, but the picture would be acceptable for any age. I recommend this formula film and give it ** 1/2.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: May 6, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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