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Product Description
Acclaimed British director Shane Meadow s (Dead Man s Shoes, This is England) assured debut feature is a tale of petty crime in the suburbs of Nottingham which stars Meadows himself as Jumbo, leader of a ragtag band of small time crooks. Featuring energetic handheld camera work, brilliant comic dialogue and a host of ironic film references Small Time clearly reveals Meadow s flair for larger-than-life characters and ability to extract accomplished, semi-improvised performances from talented non-professionals.
Also included here is Where s the Money Ronnie? (1996), the Nottingham-based filmmaker s short film homage to Kurosawa s Rashamon, which offers four different views of a robbery.
Extra Features:
- Includes Shane Meadow's acclaimed short film Where s the Money Ronnie?(1996, 12min)
- Includes informative film notes and HOH subtitles
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Small Time (1996) Acclaimed British director Shane Meadows (Dead Man s Shoes, This is England) assured debut feature is a tale of petty crime in the suburbs of Nottingham which stars Meadows himself as Jumbo, leader of a ragtag band of small time crooks. Featuring energetic handheld camera work, brilliant comic dialogue and a host of ironic film references Small Time clearly reveals Meadow s flair for larger-than-life characters and ability to extract accomplished, semi-improvised performances from talented non-professionals. Where s the Money Ronnie? (1996) The Nottingham-based filmmaker s short film homage to Kurosawa's Rashamon, which offers four different views of a robbery. Meadows' pacy, black and white, short crime caper comedy served as an assured calling card that led the director to the making of Small Time. The bewildering plot features different perspectives on the same crime scene given in flashbacks during a set of police interviews by the four main protagonists (all sporting plasters on their noses) - hysterical Benny Bould (Mat Hand), charged with suspicion of armed robbery, meek Jock Spoono (James Hynd), charged with suspicion of armed robbery, gang member Zico Marzeti (Paul Anderson), charged with suspicion of theft and GBH, and debt collector Ronnie (Shane Meadows) charged with murder. ...Small Time / Where's the Money, Ronnie?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
After a string of short films in the mid-nineties, Shane Meadows went on to create this full length feature (it's an hour in duration). At first this feels like a light-hearted comedy when we see a bunch of small time robbers stealing dog food to sell door-to-door, but it quickly develops into a more satisfying drama when we get more insight into the lives of long time friends Malc and Jumbo.
They are next-door neighbours as well as old pals, but their friendship is strained when the two have to face reality and accept that they are grown up now, with girlfriends and responsibilities. Malc seems happy to embrace maturity but isn't quite strong willed enough to knock back the constant presence of Jumbo - who despite his tough exterior seems riddled with insecurities.
Shane Meadows has a great knack of tapping into male anxiety. Jumbo should be a hideous character with his scheming ways and domestic violence towards the mother of his child - but instead of being a monster, you can't help but pity him. Jumbo is played by Shame Meadows himself and it's a superb performance, in fact - all the performances are top notch in this film and even the more humourous moments are completely believable because of the realism portrayed by the characters. Meadow's genius is to create a set of characters on screen which never feel as though they are simply roles being acted out, they look and sound natural. The dialogue sounds like it has been secretly recorded from actual conversations in living rooms and tea-rooms around Nottingham. Characters interact in the same way you see in real life, something you rarely see in Hollywood films where every effort is made to remove you from reality, here everyone feels as though they exist outside of the film and that draws you in - you care about them and want to see what they are doing.
As well as the main feature, short film "Where's the Money Ronnie?" is included on this disk too. It's a great short film and you can see how it lays the foundations for Small time and other Meadows' films. The black and white short packs more characterisation into its 12 minutes than many 90 minute films manage to. This DVD may be short on additional features, but the inclusion of this makes the release a must-have purchase for fans of British cinema.
In a nutshell: Lovers of gritty realism will appreciate the way within an hour a series of characters are given incredible depth. Human beings are complex and have their own personal philosophies, and you get a sense of that in Small Time. It's often funny, sometimes uncomfortable, but always compulsive. I would have given 'Small Time' four stars, but bundled with the brilliant "Where's the Money Ronnie?" I'd struggle to give this anything less than five.
They are next-door neighbours as well as old pals, but their friendship is strained when the two have to face reality and accept that they are grown up now, with girlfriends and responsibilities. Malc seems happy to embrace maturity but isn't quite strong willed enough to knock back the constant presence of Jumbo - who despite his tough exterior seems riddled with insecurities.
Shane Meadows has a great knack of tapping into male anxiety. Jumbo should be a hideous character with his scheming ways and domestic violence towards the mother of his child - but instead of being a monster, you can't help but pity him. Jumbo is played by Shame Meadows himself and it's a superb performance, in fact - all the performances are top notch in this film and even the more humourous moments are completely believable because of the realism portrayed by the characters. Meadow's genius is to create a set of characters on screen which never feel as though they are simply roles being acted out, they look and sound natural. The dialogue sounds like it has been secretly recorded from actual conversations in living rooms and tea-rooms around Nottingham. Characters interact in the same way you see in real life, something you rarely see in Hollywood films where every effort is made to remove you from reality, here everyone feels as though they exist outside of the film and that draws you in - you care about them and want to see what they are doing.
As well as the main feature, short film "Where's the Money Ronnie?" is included on this disk too. It's a great short film and you can see how it lays the foundations for Small time and other Meadows' films. The black and white short packs more characterisation into its 12 minutes than many 90 minute films manage to. This DVD may be short on additional features, but the inclusion of this makes the release a must-have purchase for fans of British cinema.
In a nutshell: Lovers of gritty realism will appreciate the way within an hour a series of characters are given incredible depth. Human beings are complex and have their own personal philosophies, and you get a sense of that in Small Time. It's often funny, sometimes uncomfortable, but always compulsive. I would have given 'Small Time' four stars, but bundled with the brilliant "Where's the Money Ronnie?" I'd struggle to give this anything less than five.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Shane Meadows is the greatest English director of our time, his style is powerful and he can convey humour and tradgedy with amazing depth, I have been moved to tears several times through his various works and also laughed my head off.
Buy this if you have enjoyed any of his other work, you won't regret it.
Buy this if you have enjoyed any of his other work, you won't regret it.
Format:DVD
Shane Meadows' 1996 debut feature Smalltime, which runs for around a hour, is self-evidently a rather experimental affair by a film craftsman learning his trade, but it does contain just about enough, style and content-wise, to make it into a worthwhile first effort (and a portent of things to come from Meadows). Inhabiting a space somewhere between a Lock, Stock, etc, type affair, a John Cassavetes-style improvisation and TV's Shameless, Smalltime tells the story (albeit rather haphazardly) of a group of apparent ne'er-do-wells, whose time appears to be split between indulging in petty crime (offloading second hand dog food) and boozing down the pub, but who hatch a plan to turn over a local community centre, which reputedly houses £25,000 (yes, the plot does have a few holes in it).
For Smalltime, Meadows cast himself in the lead role of Jumbo, a somewhat misogynistic yobbo with few redeeming features, as the leader of the small-time gang of would-be robbers, together with a number of other first-time actors (most of whom were personal friends of Meadows). Acting-wise, the film is nothing remarkable - as is perhaps evidenced by the fact that Meadows cast none of his Smalltime actors in lead roles in any of his follow-up features - Dena Smiles as Kate delivers, for me, the most convincing performance of Meadows' first-time cast. Narrative-wise, the film is all over the place for the first 30 minutes or so, but the final sequences surrounding the attempted robbery just about lift the film into something more than a rather uninspired mess. In particular, there is evidence here of Meadows' masterly touch (brilliantly demonstrated in much of his later work) of fitting an inspired soundtrack to his films - Meadows' long time acquaintance Gavin Clarke wrote a number of songs for the film, taking the form of a number of up-tempo small band compositions and (best of all) a couple of typically evocative and heartfelt acoustic ballads (as Clarke repeated so effectively for Meadows' later film Somers Town).
Overall then, a very mixed affair but with notable signs of promise.
For Smalltime, Meadows cast himself in the lead role of Jumbo, a somewhat misogynistic yobbo with few redeeming features, as the leader of the small-time gang of would-be robbers, together with a number of other first-time actors (most of whom were personal friends of Meadows). Acting-wise, the film is nothing remarkable - as is perhaps evidenced by the fact that Meadows cast none of his Smalltime actors in lead roles in any of his follow-up features - Dena Smiles as Kate delivers, for me, the most convincing performance of Meadows' first-time cast. Narrative-wise, the film is all over the place for the first 30 minutes or so, but the final sequences surrounding the attempted robbery just about lift the film into something more than a rather uninspired mess. In particular, there is evidence here of Meadows' masterly touch (brilliantly demonstrated in much of his later work) of fitting an inspired soundtrack to his films - Meadows' long time acquaintance Gavin Clarke wrote a number of songs for the film, taking the form of a number of up-tempo small band compositions and (best of all) a couple of typically evocative and heartfelt acoustic ballads (as Clarke repeated so effectively for Meadows' later film Somers Town).
Overall then, a very mixed affair but with notable signs of promise.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Surprisingly crap for Shane Meadows
I love Shane Meadows films but this is the worst I have ever seen, crap acting, plotless and clueless, no real character development. Read more
Published 3 months ago by S. A. Mcgregor
let down
Dont buy this its the worst hes ever made!! i have watched all his films and this one was very disappointing!
Published 4 months ago by jo
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