I heard about this film from the press reviews which were generally quite positive for a British comedy, so I thought it might have something to it. I downloaded it while the wife was out and loved it. It reminded me of being young, not fitting in and feeling like a bit of a loser.
I expected some kind of Inbetweeners cash-in but its much smarter than that, this is a film with something to say about youth, alienation and Thatcher's Britain. The characters represent different strata of the class system so we have rich kid Chunks who can't take life seriously, middle class Parsons and poor Jack, whose character is interesting because in socio-economic terms he is working class, but miles away from the usual working class Ken Loach clichéd archetype.
Its actually a very smart teen movie which subverts all those tropes like the geeky guy getting getting the girl - in this film she turns out to be a pill popping raver with issues. Or the bad boy learning something from a wise youth like in American Graffiti - in this film he kills him accidentally! In the end nobody learns anything which I understand will irritate a lot of people used to the 3-act Hollywood morality play. At least this is something different even if it doesn't always work.
The acting is good and its well-directed, a shame it didn't get more of a release but I'm sure its destined to become a cult classic in years to come with kids sitting watching it in their bedrooms smoking dope! I am a Freak!
I expected some kind of Inbetweeners cash-in but its much smarter than that, this is a film with something to say about youth, alienation and Thatcher's Britain. The characters represent different strata of the class system so we have rich kid Chunks who can't take life seriously, middle class Parsons and poor Jack, whose character is interesting because in socio-economic terms he is working class, but miles away from the usual working class Ken Loach clichéd archetype.
Its actually a very smart teen movie which subverts all those tropes like the geeky guy getting getting the girl - in this film she turns out to be a pill popping raver with issues. Or the bad boy learning something from a wise youth like in American Graffiti - in this film he kills him accidentally! In the end nobody learns anything which I understand will irritate a lot of people used to the 3-act Hollywood morality play. At least this is something different even if it doesn't always work.
The acting is good and its well-directed, a shame it didn't get more of a release but I'm sure its destined to become a cult classic in years to come with kids sitting watching it in their bedrooms smoking dope! I am a Freak!