This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Yes I agree with some comments that such an oddball would have in reality, caused more alarm bells to ring than he did, and Ladine wouldn't have gone near him, but then we wouldn't have had much of a film to watch! I think two things injected by Meadows help make up for this credibility flaw, 1, the setting of it in what looks like the early 80s, an era when yes, people seemed to be much less vigilant than they are now about strange looking loners befriending kids, and 2, humour, a fair bf it of it too. It is very dark humour, and of course this always takes you away from slight credibility issues because it becomes more of a black comedy.What we are left to contemplate is, the oddball Morell's actions have come out of a deep jealousy of never having this kind of friendship, that and just being a deeply unpleasant, unlikable loner. Thanks to some good writing and a fantastic portrayal by Considine, the film becomes one of the best and darkest studies ever made of a troubled and troubling weirdo. This film like several of SM's others, has an almost Western like tinge to it depicting a drifting desperado causing trouble to a community. Good stuff indeed.

I was really looking forward to this one, after thoroughly enjoying Dead man shoes, which was a great film....The movie starts and the intro segments begin to play, introducing the two boys Romeo and Gavin. My first thought was how terrible the actor who played Gavin was (Ben Marshall). He appeared to be unnatural, annoying and generally sounded like he was reading off a script. But i was willing to look past that...A good 25 minutes in and i'm still waiting for something interesting to happen. Morell (Paddy Considine) had been introduced and had appeared to have developed a strange relationship with the boys, and i was left wondering why the boys parents would even let their boys be associated with this strange man, who appeared to be 'not quite the full ticket' in the first place.The scene in the clothes shop where Morell was dressed in a shell suit delivering gifts to Romeo's sister was cringe worthy, and there was no way in hell that his sister would have had anything to do with this weirdo after that performance, which makes the film seem even more unrealistic when she agrees to go on a date with him...The kissing scene was even more far fetched, and this just wouldn't happen in the real world, even if she did feel slightly sorry for him...The film takes a sinister turn shortly after this and provides the first bit of action...My heart skipped a beat when Morell pulls out a knife on Gavin, and it was a quite a random shock. I thought 'ok' this film is going somewhere now...But when Romeo returns from the ice cream truck and finds his 'best' friend crying with his head in his hands, there is no way that romeo would just disregard it the way he did, considering he had been so loyal to him from the start. He would have demanded to know what was wrong and would have been suspicious that Morell had done something...I thought Morell would start terrorising Gavin after this but nothing happened. I guess his revenge was taking Romeo away from him...The film just plods along with minimal action and you are left wondering why Romeo has abandoned his friend so easily and why he is so reluctant to even have anything to do with him. And i was also left wondering why his parents had not wised up to the situation and why they were still letting romeo hang around with Morell.When Morell turns on romeo, after a failed attempt to bed his sister (which nearly resulted in rape), and proceeds to follow him around its obvious how the film will end (Frank Harper saving the day).The scene at the end, where Morell is in Gavin's front garden refusing to leave, and seeking revenge is flawed. Is there no police in this town??? The first thing you would do if there was a psycho waiting outside your house is call the police. Not go out there and confront him yourself.Romeo's dad arrives and gives Morell a minor beating. A very minor beating, considering this man had attempted to rape his daughter, and attack his son, and then stalk him.I was left feeling unsatisfied after that.Although i have not said many good things about this film, i will say that i did enjoy the rare bits of action the movie provided, and the general story line was good. It just had too many flaws for my liking and was slow in parts.The final scene in the garden was horrible, and the magic show was unfunny and yet again quite cringe worthy.This film is good in parts, buts lets face it, its no classic.I'm guessing these high reviews are from die hard Shane Meadows fans, who will appreciate anything he does.5 out of 10 from me.

not just another 'briddish' movie, this.although meadows already had one well recieved full-length feature (24/7) behind him, and a sizable reputation for being handy with a camcorder (he's made an impressive number of shorts), somehow this brave and sophisticated film got lost in the post lock, stock slop. strange as it stands head and shoulders above anything else made in britain in the past 5 years.but to define this peculier acheivement purely on the terms that it is british would be a terrible slight against this great movie. it is a film so sharp and true that it should please in just about anywhere, that just about anyone should be able to identify with the comic-horrors on display here. comic-horrors just as we might find them in life.much of this truth and beauty comes from the cast themselves. shim and marshall give relaxed performances, investing the film with charm, providing the emotional core, and avoiding the trappings that most actors of their age may have fallen into (gurning, grimacing, appearing generally overwrought). the adults are uniformly excellent to, but, perhaps inevtiably, it's paddy considine's morrell that makes the biggest impression. a man-child part that so many could've done so wrong considine gives a wild and unruly comic turn and twists the film into a darkness that few recent british films would dare to without the safety net of drugs or mockney gangsters. when it gets dark, it gets pitch-black. but we can never less than sympathetic for morrell. meadows knows his character inside out, and refuses to demonise him. we are never left wondering what is tormenting him, and meadows highlights that morrell's vicious alter-ego stems from being born into a society which has no place for him, and which constantly misunderstands him. even in the shocking climax meadows refuses to sanitise morrell. by not having the police come and tow him away, meadows leaves the question open, what will become of people like morrell? and believe me, they exist.a film that packs an emotional and political punch, is funny, and charming, and true. the sometimes intrusive folk-sy soundtrack aside, it's what you've been waiting for.

I find Morell so funny in this film because he behaves so weirdly. I like the fact that he fancies that young girl and he tries everything just to impress her but just makes an even bigger fool out of himself. The best part is when they're alone and he says "Touch it, go on touch it" the girl then runs away. On a serious note, it's a shame that film ends badly for him since he experienced such a rough childhood.....it was inevitable though since he was now a danger to society.