The Martins

I really don't know why so many of you people have slammed this film, because personally I thought it was one of the best British films to come out in the last twelve months, besides Bridget Jones. The story line was really good and if some of you were real movie critics then you would understand the plot. Robert Martin is just like a lot of out of work men living in a run down council estate living on nothing but what the government pays them. Teenage daughter who is pregnant just like a lot of teenage girls around this country and a quiet normal ten yr old boy who gets bullied at school.

Kathy Burke and Lee Evans I thought played their characters really well and I just wish that Tony Grounds makes this film as a T.V Series because I thought it was a classy drama with a slice of humour in it.

I HIGHLY RECOMEND THIS FILM TO ANYONE WHO CARES ENOUGH ABOUT WORKING CLASS FAMILIES AND THE STRUGGLES WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH. 9/10.

Slammed by the critics, The Martin's never really had a chance. Simple.

However, being a heuge fan of Lee Evans, i went along anyway, and thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the cinema. The Martins has flawless performances throughout, and while being cheap, and to be honest, very badly written, it still provides enough laughs to keep you in your seat.

Lee Evans never gets the opportunity to truly show his comic genius, but does do his job well enough to keep fans entertained. And as British as he is, he really should be given the opportunity to take on some more roles in Hollywood, and be given more screen time than his previous well received efforts, such as in Mouse Hunt, and The Fifth Element. The Martin's is not great, but certainly worth a watch. 5/10.................................................................

GYKO

Robert Martin is unemployed, a bit of a geezer and always on the scrounge – whether it be benefits or entering every competition he sees. When he loses out on a dream holiday he believes he is due, he flips out and uses a mate's gun to get a bit of respect from those he feels have wronged him just because of who he is. While the police follow up a series of bizarre reports of gun crime involving a Chav, Robert also finds out that a mate is coming out of prison with the knowledge that Robert slept with his wife. The pressure to get any holiday and get out of town with his dysfunctional family gets to him.

Although it goes to extremes with the plot, this film is still an enjoyable look at a typically Chav family where you can hardly see the people past the shouting, drinking and generally antisocial behaviour. Grounds' script works well because he doesn't try to make us like them (because most of the UK don't) but he does enough with them to let us see them in good light and bad – both as products of their environments as well as causing their problems for themselves. This means the drama works well even though it is stretched at points by the action, because it is the characters that we are here for.

As such it is the performances from Evans and Burke that make it work so well. Viewers moaning about how they should be funny and how disappointing the two were have simply missed the point. It is their convincing portrayal of a Chav couple in love that makes it work so well; they allow their characters to be convincingly rough but also give room for believable soul-searching whether it is spoken or just in quiet moments. They work well together and individually. Without the thought the rest of the family are Chav clichés, albeit convincing clichés. The support cast are good enough to judge the couple without it being too heavy handed or judgemental. I can understand why viewers moan and complain about how it isn't funny enough, because they have just listened to the marketing department that pitched this as a trashy comedy, but trust me when I say that the performances drive this film and make it as engaging as it is.

Not the sort of thing that will travel well outside the UK but it is an effective drama that takes a fair and balanced look at a typical Chav family. Yes the plot has to go to extremes to move it all along but it is the characters where the film is and they are worth watching for not only because of how well written they are but also how good the serious work of Evans and Burke is.

After hearing everyone bad mouth this movie, I went into it thinking that it was bad. But I came out thinking that it was good.

The movie really made me think that all you really need in life is your family. You dont need everything else everyone has. You only need what you have to live.

This portrait of a deadbeat family is much more touching than I expected. Complaints that it crosses "genres" seem to me to be pointless. Its weakness is the plot...its strength is the pairing of Lee Evans and Kathy Burke; I have always that one of the strengths of Evans' loveable-nitwit stand-up routine is the charge of anger which runs through it. In The Martins he gives the anger free rein with scary effect. On the other hand, are we to believe in a man who can tie up two old people and leave them, for all he knows, to die of thirst and hunger in a cellar, yet will not raise a hand to defend himself against his righteously angry wife? It doesn't quite add up. But it's a really enjoyable and moving film with a life-affirming message, brought home most strongly in the wonderful childbirth scene. At least this movie challenges us to think about how little value we attach to people whom we perceive as too poor, stupid or ugly to be noticed.