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Gritty Scottish film about a skinhead named Frankie; his violent childhood, alcoholism and his love for Ska.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Watchable, but patchy and a bit melancholy,
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This review is from: 16 Years of Alcohol [DVD] [2003] (DVD)
The ubiquitous Kevin McKidd (Trainspotting, Rome, Grey's Anatomy etc) stars as Frankie, a regular Edinburgh guy who has grown up in the shadow of alcohol and its domestic and social consequences. The film starts with him receiving a kicking in a dark city wynd and then backtracks to follow 3 specific stages in his life and how alcohol played a part in his development: first as a youngster, then as a late teenager, then as a grown man.
The middle stage was probably the most interesting - although he was at his most obnoxious at this stage as he traipsed through Edinburgh with a small gang of semi-psychotic hoods causing havoc (shades of Clockwork Orange here?). Overall, 16 Years of Alcohol is watchable, but I wouldn't really go beyond that. Many times throughout the 96 minutes there's just too much rambling biopic introspection from the lead man and melancholy is the general order the day in many places (helped no end by Blue Nile music). Kevin McKidd is one of the most successful actors to come out of Scotland in recent times. He carries the role well and Richard Jobson, in his directorial debut, appears to be finding his way here and did go on to make more powerful films - such as 'New Town Killers'. Extras include a director's commentary, a behind-the-scenes featurette and some deleted scenes.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great British Film Debut,
This review is from: 16 Years of Alcohol [DVD] [2003] (DVD)
This was Richard Jobson's directorial debut and it is a very stylish effort. Clearly, the subject matter is not entirely original - outstanding films have been made on the subject of alcoholism from The Lost Weekend through to My Name Is Joe. But Jobson's effort is a worthwhile entry into this pantheon and he elicits great performances from his actors including Kevin McKidd in the lead role with support from Laura Fraser, Susan Lynch and Lewis MacLeod. The film has a number of resemblances for me, notably with the aforementioned My Name Is Joe, but probably more obviously A Clockwork Orange and Gillies MacKinnon's masterpiece Small Faces (in which both McKidd and Fraser gave early impressive performances). Some of the pub singing sequences are also reminiscent of Terence Davies.However, despite such influences Jobson brings his own particular brand, or mix, of realism and dreamlike quality to the piece, underpinned by a great music score, and (for me) is entirely convincing. Laura Fraser provides a typically stalwart performance as the music store salesperson with whom McKidd becomes infatuated, and Susan Lynch is outstanding as the alcoholics' circle companion trying to wean McKidd off his obsession with alcohol (and violence). This is just the sort of British film that should receive much greater exposure/promotion on release, instead of the very limited release it was given. Sadly, I don't believe that Jobson has matched this sterling effort in his subsequent films, most appear to have disappeared without trace and New Town Killers (which I did see), whilst an interesting idea (in effect a foretelling of the current global financial crisis!), was not as impressive as this debut.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good first attempt,
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This review is from: 16 Years of Alcohol [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
For his first full length feature former Skids frontman Richard Jobson has come up with an extremely good debut. Watching the main character Frankie's downward spiral to oblivion, despite the efforts of others to save him, is sad yet compelling. Kevin McKidd gives an excellent performance as the doomed Frankie who is all too aware of the direction that he is headed but is powerless to do anything about it. As an added bonus there are some great shots of Edinburgh, particularly of the parts the tourists will seldom tread. Highly recommended.
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