Late Night Shopping

My faith is slowly but surely being restored in the British film industry. It would seem that the steady tirade of shoddy Lock, Stock & Bridget Jones rip-off's is being offset by some nice low budget character driven pieces that are begging to be seen by a larger audience.

Late Night Shopping is one such film. Yet to secure a release in the US, this is definitely a film to keep an eye out for.

Saul Metzstein's debut feature is a glorious exploration of friendship and how we choose to spend our lives. The four main characters all work nightshifts and spend the time before and after work drinking coffee and talking about how they hate their jobs and lives in general.

Lenny works in a directory enquiries call centre and has trouble speaking to women. Sean is a hospital porter who's girlfriend works a day shift, consequently he never sees her and wonders if she still stays with him. Vincent works in a supermarket and is a self-confessed womaniser who has a three strike rule. He will only sleep with a woman three times before he dumps them. Jody works for a computer components company and constantly feels left out by the three boys.

The four talk and go about their dull, mundane existence. The film however is anything but mundane. The tight script from Jack Lothian sparkles with wit and charm and you grow attached to the characters and genuinely feel for them. The story doesn't fall into cheap clichés and keeps the viewer on it's toes, not rushing into any obvious or cheesy climaxes.

In a welcome change of pace for recent British movie the film contains no violence and no drug-use. Sex is hinted at rather than shown and swearing is kept to a minimum.

The movie was filmed in Glasgow and director Saul Metzstein does a bang up job off making the grey, gloomy city that I know look like a bustling, lively metropolis. In-fact If I didn't know it was filmed in Glasgow I would have a hard job recognising it, although I did spot a few places that I know.

I'm not familiar with any of the actors from the film, but I was very impressed with the performances that they give. They really made me feel for them and I saw I bit of myself in each one (being a twentysomething loser in a dead-end job myself).

Late Night Shopping is easily one of the best films to come out of Britain in a long time and demands to be seen by as many people as possible.

4/5

Most of the votes for this film are 7-10 yet most of the comments are lukewarm to hostile, which baffles me as I found it consistently enjoyable, intelligently scripted and very well acted. The only disappointment was that, although recognisably filmed in Glasgow, it appears to be set in some non-specific English city in which none-the-less all the minor characters have Scots accents. Despite this I gave it a 9.

These days, the majority of people on earth watch American films, which are quite often filled with action and / or effects. There are of course films about ordinary life, like American Beauty, which attract major attention, but are there any else? Does the film industry consist of films full of action and effects and a few simple made, though qualitatively good films? Are all good films made in America? The answer to those questions are No and No!!! There are films, that do manage to entertain without big effects and explosions. Some of them are made in America and remain virtually unknown like Finding Forrester. But there are also a number of good and simply made European films, that never get the attention they deserve. Hereby I must add that the level of attention European films get is even lower than the attention that is given to simply made American films (unless it is some sort of HIT film). Late Night Shopping is one of those European films that deals with ordinary life, but does it manage to entertain? Before I get to that though, I must tell you, that this movie is targeted at a late teen / young adult audience, which is not a bad thing, but Since I've seen the film I must tell you, that this film will not be enjoyed by many persons not belonging to the target audience.

Late night shopping, is about four youngsters Jody, Vincent, Sean and Lenny who all work graveyard shifts. After work these ‘acquaintances' meet in a café to talk about their daily hassles. There it is, that we meet those four persons that will dictate the next 91 minutes of our life. In the course of the film, a lot becomes clear, about the personalities of the characters, but this film is more than a character study. It also shows the development and of true friendship. I'd like to quote Vincent here, standing on a miniature golf course with Lenny, but I do not want to spoil your viewing experience. Of course I realized, that nothing much happens in this film. I noticed that it contains a lot of pointless behavior, like sitting in a café, talking or riding around in the car with no particular place to go, but aren't those pointless routines, what make life enjoyable? Isn't it great to be able to do nothing special with your friends and having fun at the same time?

By know, I might have you thinking, that this is the best film of all times, well it is entertaining, but it isn't that good. I mean, the actors, the story and the music are all good, without any ground breaking achievements, but what really made the difference between this being a pretty good film and a good film, was the director I think. I feel, that if he had paced and directed this movie just a notch better, it would have done the trick and this film would have been good. Now it is just pretty good. I know some people might argue that the ‘soap scenes' are idiotic, but they didn't bother me at all. As far as pointless films go this one holds up pretty well, despite not being able to match itself with Mallrats or Chasing Amy (which are both American films by the way).

7 out of 10

I rented this film from a local shop on a whim, not expecting much. My housemates and I watched and loved it, every one of us. Maybe it's because we can relate as late-working, unambitious slackers; however I think that it was the spot-on acting, funny and likeable characters, great writing, and unique freshness of this film that made it so good.

If you like a good, intelligent comedy, check this out.

I really enjoyed this film. It was much better than I was expecting from the box, which suggested both (i) another pointless Trainspotting knock-off and (ii) a laugh out loud pant-wetting comedy, of which this is neither (although there are some hilarious moments).

In fact this is a subtle comedy about a group of acquaintances becoming friends. The 'stupid coincidences' others have criticized here (the two girls knowing each other, Vince inadvertently pulling Sean's girlfriend) are indeed coincidences, but that is exactly the point. Because they ever only interact in the rather bleak nothingness of their nocturnal world, and superficially know so little about one another, they have no idea how interconnected their lives really are and how much they share.

A theme running through the film is the distinction between acquaintances, 'people you pass the time with', and friends. Which category do this group fall into? The unwitting and unrealised intersections between their lives initially indicate the former. However, their actions in helping Sean recover his girlfriend as the story goes suggest otherwise. Only Vince, the superficially shallow womaniser (and probably the best character), insists consistently that they *are* friends, that it is their actions towards one another that define their relationship, not the facts they can remember. By the film's (somewhat open) ending, the core group have moved firmly into the 'friends' category, not by learning that many more facts about each other, but by developing an understanding of each other's needs.

It's worth pointing out that this is all achieved without sentimental gushing at any point, something of a relief, and the films cynical tone rarely wavers. It's a credit to the young cast that they can express so much with barely a single heartfelt monologue.

There is also an underlying theme about the twenty-four hour society and the mundane, prospect-free jobs the group have. During the night, nothing changes - no-one really grows or develops, nothing is resolved, there is an air of helplessness at a bleak future doing the same pointless job for the rest of your life. (As Vince says, `And then what?'). It is only when they emerge into the daylight that anything can, and does, happen - things finally start to change.

In addition, the film is well directed and the production style is modern and distinctive without being intrusive. It's a relief to see a film with a young cast which has a bit of texture and depth, and which has not been designed around it's soundtrack.

All-in-all a very enjoyable watch, which is thought-provoking if you want it to be, and still very funny if you don't.

PS I feel obliged to answer at least some of the rather churlish and unfair criticisms which the film has received here:

1. `Why doesn't Sean just phone his girlfriend to see if she's still there?' Well, the other characters ask him this too, so it's not a plot hole. Instead it is establishing his character - he is incapable of facing up to the possibility she has gone, and paralysed by his fear of being alone. He's a bit neurotic, a bit paranoid, and he's stuck in his night-time world where nothing happens.

2. `How does Vince know where they are going?' BECAUSE LENNY TOLD HIM! This is established in the very next shot, when Jody realises the fact in the car and thumps Lenny. If you won't pay attention..

3. `Why are they all English when it's filmed in Glasgow? Why do the stop at a service station not on the route from Glasgow to Saltcoats?' Duh.. Just because it was filmed in Glasgow and Saltcoats, and therefore *looks* like Glasgow and Saltcoats, it is never confirmed to *be* these places. (In fact the seaside town was explicitly called something else). The city isn't supposed to be Glasgow, it's a fictitious AnyCity, UK. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE IT IS! It's not supposed to be anywhere *real*, because it's a story!