Twin Town

It's quite nice to see how good this film is when you think about it. A lot of people don't really know much about Welsh films and to be honest it's because there isn't that many unless there are in welsh language. Before Dougrary Scott starred in Mission Impossible 2 and Ripley's game there was Twin Town and the same goes for Rhys Ifans who stole most of the limelight on Notting Hill as the mad masturbating Welshman Spike but it all started here with Kevin Allen's Twin Town. A hard look at Swansea life through so many different characters who you forget who is who after the first half hour but what a bunch of characters they are. Most of them actually put Wales to shame but with a funny twist of humour and violence. This came hot on the heels of Trainspotting and had a lot to look up to but I think this just as good as Trainspotting. It starts off well enough and keeps going throughout without it letting up for a second till the end credits. Even though there are some ruthless people in this you can't help but fall in love with them especially Terry played by Dougrary Scoot who is just so comic as a hard cop bully who thinks he is the man but is actually very accident prone at most times and that's what makes him great amongst other roles.

This is a so much happening here and we should look at this for what it is which is a feel good film that starts you off straight away and doesn't let you stop till the end credits.

Danny Boyle is in many ways the British answer to Quentin Tarantino. Despite Boyle not having complete authority over TWIN TOWN, his trademarks are definitely present, and many parts of this film are truly excellent. However, the film as a whole seems to lack true continuity, as it seems to be a loose, simple plot formed by sporadic situations that the writers feel are funny (in many ways they are). Which brings me on to the Tarantino connection - one has to only watch 20 minutes of his films to realise the man is in love with situations - whether they be from circumstance or dialogue. However Quentin is the true master of this kind of film-making. A lesser creator will provide interesting and funny scenes, but with a taste of incompletion left in the mouth.

That said, TWIN TOWN is acted wonderfully, and the Swansea setting makes for some interesting and novel humour. Whereas some of the violence seems a little contrived, it is refreshing to see new kinds of film-making, and moreso to see it grow from the mind of Brits!

Very very funny.

A sleeper hiding in the dusty back shelves of the video store, that I took out one night with curiosity and no expectations. I'm three-quarters English, a quarter Welsh and have spent a long time in Australia, but I don't think it was just the Welsh part of me that enjoyed this movie.

I loved its roughness, its quirkiness, its lack of perfection and its reality and sure! some of the characters were grubby, superficial and less than enervating.

This is a loosely woven picture of reality in an under-privileged urban environment with all the mundanity, idiocy, drama, violence, beauty and humour of everyday life that eddies around us, and in this instance, the Lewis twins. There are a couple of truly hilarious scenes that very few actors could emulate, but the twins in the movie are twins in real life and it flows naturally.

Revenge escalates inevitably beyond the frivolous into the 'deadly' serious with a speed and abandonment that has you gasping. But unlike some movies that lose it at the end, this one magically gathers in all the loose threads and delivers a finale of epic proportions that elegantly spans the coldly ruthless and the vauntingly sublime and leaves you with a sense of deep justice.

GREAT. This is the sort of stuff the Americans don't do very often or very well, and mostly misunderstand when someone else does it properly. This was done properly.

Reviewers disappointed by an inevitable comparison with Trainspotting obviously missed a lot of the subtle stuff in both movies that is exclusive to the towns, times and cultures they portray. They got sidetracked by the 'big' issues ....

Shelve your preconceptions, grab the remote and replay all those bits that are hard to catch if your ear isn't tuned to the accent. Sure it helps if bad language doesn't get in the way of enjoyment, but let's face it, you should be used to those Anglo-Saxon and Gaelic words by now - so if you can handle it, this one's a delight - but it'll never be mainstream.

The film has everything you'd want it to have. Especially if you're British. Probably more of a bloke's film, but still fun for everyone.

The story is brilliant, and so accurately welsh. Every minor detail adds to the whole experience. The film progresses like a serious drama and seems to come out with brilliant comedy without even trying. As well as the actual storyline being funny, little quirks about each character and even the attention to welsh detail makes you laugh.

Not only is it well written, it's also beautifully filmed, and makes great use of the camera. The film encompasses a huge range of interesting shots.

Enhancing the film further was it's great choice of cast. All the characters were perfectly conveyed, and film avoided any bad performances.

The music is also something to listen out for, as it stands out as a good piece of work on it's own.

I highly recommend Twin Town (especially if you're British), as it's an exciting film experience with a great story, interesting shots, decent actors, and appropriate use of excessive swearing and violence.

Twin Town cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Trainspotting, simply because it is a completely different film, the fact that they are both set in squalid urban surroundings and involve drugs is incidental. Twin Town is basically a sequence of revenge acts between two groups of people linked in all sorts of ways. The Twins to whom the title refers might as well be cardboard cutouts, for the lack of personalities, but you find yourself sympathetic with them despite their debauchery. Likewise the death of the Lewis family (minus the sons) is a very sad moment, despite the fact that they have been portrayed so shallowly. This is the success of the film, the way it manipulates your emotions to leave you genuinely shaken by the violence in the events leading up to the climax, whereas the opening of the film leads you to expect a light-hearted farce. Watching it again it is easy to divide the film into two sections, but very difficult to pin down where the change of pace and mood begins. The humour and irony is superb, particularly the razor sharp sarcasm of Adie. Although a very seedy picture of Wales is presented, this presents a very positive view of the people of Swansea and manages not to be anti-English in the slightest despite the obvious nationalistic feel. The acting is great, and as long as you aren`t expecting anything like Trainspotting and you let the humour wash over you you`ll enjoy this.