Man Dancin'

12 years ago Man Dancin' came out and it was luckily enough an amazing film about how much involvement there was in Gangland Glasgow. Many people working on the film as extras came from a couple of the locations used. However it is looking back on it now much much of the film can be used to describe Glasgow's culture now. Having been involved with the film it is remarkable how well crafted Sergio Casci's writing played to convey Glasgow's historical problem with Religious sectarianism and how much has been done to reduce this. Another brilliant craft is and was the usage of actors who have since been stalwarts in Scottish television. Frank Gallagher is the undisputed and underrated actor in the whole production and his verve to provide comic relief in a somewhat serious film about life and death proves invaluable to the audience's experience of Glasgow's culture.

Well now this strange movie. It was listed as a comedy but I certainly found nothing to laugh at. Actually I am struggling to find anything positive to say about this film. Oh here I go. Alex Ferns is not bad in the lead role and I did not pick the ending for a change, but apart from that this has no great direction solidly two dimensional characters and is not funny enough to be a comedy or serious or dark enough to be any form of decent drama. I would really avoid ever having to watch this movie again and think it does nothing to benefit any of the working class characters it is attempting to portray. I found it hard to empathise for any of the characters and was not given enough information on the lead character Jimmy to believe his motives. Best avoided.

When I first heard about Man Dancin', I was told it had parallels to the story of Christ. This worried me slightly because, trying to give a message often becomes contrived, but the amazing thing about this film is, it was able to combine a strong and well-structured storyline with a thought-provoking message. It doesn't faff about trying to please the churched and, in my opinion, paints a pretty believable gang environment.

There is a gripping drama, with great humour and a gut-wrenching finale. It is well-acted, well-directed and WAY under advertised.

In my opinion, a must see! Well done Norman Stone and co! Leah

Shortly before attending the English premiere of this film, I was apprehensive about how much I was going to enjoy it. Alex Ferns, known only to me as Trevor from Eastenders, didn't seem to be my cup of tea, and I feared the film would be pretty standard artsy, violent independent movie fare.

I was very wrong, and very pleasantly surprised by the film. The direction and the acting performances - most notably from Alex Ferns and James Cosmo - were top notch. The atmosphere of the film was realistic without seeming boring, and the story was very carefully told. I thought it took a while to get going and get to the real meat of the story, but once it did, the endearing characters and tense plot made it a really enjoyable movie. It manages to create several highly amusing scenes, and also some shocking or upsetting ones. I am very pleased to say that I was moved by the film.

I feel it's going to be one of those 'love it or hate it' movies. If you get it, then you're really going to enjoy it. If you don't get it, then it might just seem like another depressing urban gangster film. Personally, however, I found it to be both uplifting and memorable, and by the end of the film I was all to happy to eat my apprehensive words from before it began.

All in all, I give it 8 stars. Truly great cinema, definately worth a watch and a great addition to any collection of British films.

In its favour MAN DANCIN' opening titles shows us exactly where it's set - On a rundown council estate in Glasgow which I'm fairly certain in the notorious Gorbals so director Norman Stone can be proud that he's brought a very strong sense of place to his film . Unfortunately Sergio Casci's screenplay then hits the audience in the mouth with a cliché as soon as the credits stop . Hardman Jimmy Kerrigan is released from jail and gets into an argument with a couple of local yobs which ends up with him getting a serious doing . A few minutes later we're introduced to the local gangster kingpin Donnie McGlone and then local DI Pancho Villers and it's at this point you realise you're watching a Western uprooted to present day Glasgow . It's almost like watching Jean Luc Goddard's ALPHAVILLE where the visuals on screen are entirely different from what is written down on the page . Honestly you get the suspicion that the screenplay was written as a star vehicle for Clint Eastwood in the early 1970s where the man with no name is trying to go straight

Having said that at least the production team of MAN DANCIN' haven't aped the style of Guy Ritchie which is a major problem with British films featuring gangsters from the same period but would it be uncharitable to point out that both film makers and audiences had become terminally bored with this genre ? The cast do their best with the material but it's a very clichéd melodrama that is entirely about redemption but for some reason remains watchable . It's as forgettable as it is watchable too