Purely Joyful Movie!

Better Late Then Never

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Yes, a good film, and for one made for a £100 grand a hell of an achievement. The performances were good to excellent (the Trevor character in particular was particularly convincing). I like the fact the film makers had not resorted to simplistic visuals to get the message across. For example the estate where they lived looked pretty nice and yet even with the sunshine you still felt this story was right there.My only reservations are I didn't consider the banter was as convincing as everybody seems to think it was. But mainly it was the subject matter. Guns, gangsters, drugs, family conflict here we go again. Apparently, the original script focused on the dealer and his customers and that would have suited me more. But if you get the chance to see it - well worth a look.

There are lots of things that made this film 'good' in my estimation, most of those things have been discussed by other reviewers already. For example: strong performances, some lovely cinematography etc. But the 'thing' that really struck me about this film was the brave attempt to depict drug dealing and drug use in an unglamorous context. English crime / gangster films had moved into a comic book realm in the late 90s early 00s - courtesy of Guy Richie's thoroughly entertaining 'Lock Stock....' - I have no problems with that little genre. However - this was always a white middle class guy's romantic comic book version of drug deals and guns. This is not a criticism, as I say, the films he makes are good fun and entertaining. They are what they are. So it is all the more wonderful to see a film like this one. The Respectable working class milieu, not everyone lives in a decrepit London (or Manchester or Liverpool) decaying block of flats with graffiti and p**s stains on the wall for example. The 's**t - shire' - nothing place. Not quite street cred enough to be 'cool' - the camera pans over rows of little houses with bins out the front, small gardens, indistinct small scale warehouses, the underpass, the quiet suburban streets. This is not London, this is not the country, this is the nowhere's ville where a larger percentage of 'us' actually come from than we care to admit at times. The kitchen sink averageness of the cocaine addicted building site worker, the quietly observed sadness of the crack smoking old lady in her familiar looking flat, framed photograph of a daughter, grand daughter on the mantle. It is the quietness of this film that really got to me, which made the final scenes all the more horrific and powerful. It made me think of a Billy Bragg lyric 'Don't go reminding me again of how brittle bone is.' No rock n rollers, no sharply dressed fellas on the make. Just people, who look like people at the local shopping centre you walk past everyday. While it is not perfect, I eagerly await the director's next film. Hats off to all the actors involved as well - not a weak link anywhere. Mr. Mays: you were sensational! If you want to see a film that is not a post modern comic book version of life (and again, these films have their appeal for me at times) give this one a go.

Shifty, a young crack cocaine dealer in London, sees his life quickly spiral out of control when his best friend returns home.Stalked by a customer desperate to score at all costs, and with his family about to turn their back on him for good, Shifty must out-run and out-smart a rival drug dealer, intent on setting him up for a big fall.As his long time friend Chris, confronts the dark past he left behind him, Shifty is forced to face up to the violent future he's hurtling towards....A stunning British drama that focuses on people rather than drugs, is what Shifty is all about. Having the main protagonist be a Muslim, is a marvellous move from the makers, as it adds a whole new angle, to what could have been another average Drug film.Everyone puts in a bravura performance, and all the way through the film, you feel Shifty's 'point of no return' as you see his life start to spiral out of control.The ending likes to think that it is cleverer than what it actually is, and it feels a little like the end of 'Silence of the lambs', but it's still an incredible film.Funny in parts, depressing in others, it shows desperation of addicts, and also empathy for people who take drugs to escape reality, and than people facing up to reality.

Shifty is a young drug dealer living with his older brother and earning a couple of grand a week. When an old friend comes to stay with him and asks him to come back up to Manchester to a safer, cleaner life, it marks the start of a rough day for Shifty, as his normal drop-offs are complicated by one customer who goes off the rails, and a rumour that has made it back to Shifty's supplier that he is cutting the product and selling for himself on the side.Made for as little as £100k (which would not even buy you a one-second Megan Fox pout) this film is to be admired for how good it looks considering the constraints of the budget. However if praise was given out to independent films made for no money then there would not be enough to go around as there are plenty of similar attempts – just many of them really do show the lack of resource in all areas. It is not the case with Shifty because the film is an effective and well made affair that engages by virtue of how it is put together. The story is reasonably straightforward but it is written with a wider story behind it – one that we perhaps don't get all of but one that impacts onto the characters and their relationships and makes for a stronger character set and a more interesting film. I was interested in both Shifty and Chris as people as well as the grubby little world they inhabit.On top of this the day in question also has some violent risks for Shifty and these add a semi-thriller touch to the story. Again, this isn't totally fleshed out all for the viewer to see but it works as it goes. It isn't perfect as a story but it does well to juggle a couple of different characters to add to the flow of the narrative while also avoiding being judgemental about any of them – your conclusion may be "drugs are bad m'kay" but the film does not seem to have that as an agenda but is just focused on telling the story.The cast deserve credit for working on such a low budget film; OK they are not Hollywood stars used to commanding millions but there are several faces that will be recognisable from big films. The star of the film is Riz Ahmed, who does well for once not playing someone associated with 9/11 films. He is a likable character but he also conveys that edge of toughness and threat that he needs. He does good work with his face and eyes to ensure the viewer can sort of appreciate his thoughts without them being rammed down your throat. Mays has less of a showy role but he does the same – hits the character well and makes him convincing from the start and throughout, only weakening a little bit towards the end when I expected him to convey the impact of events a little better. Flemyng is a solid presence and a good face to help the film, while Simpson's Trevor is a tragic figure and he plays it well, making him a real person rather than a simple plot device to be either pitied or hated.Shifty is not a brilliant film to be sure, it is far to slight for that but it is a particularly good one. It isn't social realism but it has an authenticity to it that helps make it work, with the well written and performed characters providing a strong base for the narrative to be built on. If it had cost ten times as much to make I still would have liked it but that it was made for so little is an impressive thing of note.