BRASSED OFF!
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1997 Michael John Legeros
(Mirimax)
Directed by Mark Herman
Written by Mark Herman
Cast Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald, Ewan McGregor, Jim
Carter, Philip Jackson, Peter Martin, Stephen
Tompkinson, Sue Johnston, Mary Healey, Lill Roughley
MPAA Rating "R" (presumably for profanity)
Running Time 107 minutes
Reviewed at The Rialto, Raleigh, NC (17JUN97)
==
BRASSED OFF!, the only musical mining drama that's likely to grace our shores this (or any other) year, has, to its credit, a strong cast (headlined by Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald, and Ewan McGregor), several compelling characters, and plenty of fine brass music. (Music and dialogue rendered on a recording so crisp that I actually had trouble paying attention to the movie! Since when did small films start sounding so big?) What sends this British import right down the crapper is a weighty mix of dour drama-- striking miners, families strapped for cash, clowns trying to commit suicide, etc.-- and heavy-handed politics. Ugh. By the end, when the colliery band makes it to their final competi- tion, there's nothing left to celebrate, except, perhaps, the impending restoration of blood flow to a certain bum deal. An interesting movie, I suppose, but way too bitter to be bittersweet.
Grade: C+
--
Mike Legeros - Movie Hell http://www.nonvirtual.com/hell/
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