A Room for Romeo Brass

Hidden as it was in the BBC schedules, I nearly missed this gem of a film. Shane Meadows seems to improve with every picture, following up the raw promise of 'Small Time' and the almost great 'TwentyFourSeven' with this priceless jewel, which is proof that Meadows alone carries the torch of the British film industry forward amidst the Guy Ritchie pap we churn out on a regular basis.

Although the acting from some of the minor characters was a bit on the dodgy side, Paddy Considine shone as the socially inadequate Morrell and the two lads (and their fathers in a memorably frightening final scene) did a solid job. Credit must also go to the screenwriter Paul Fraser, who has breathed some life into the cliched, patronizing 'working class' sceenplays that featured in 'Brassed Off', or (worse) 'The Full Monty'. The usual 'working class' signifiers (a guest appearance by Kathy Burke, or chain smoking as a character trait) were thankfully missing.

'A Room For Romeo Brass' was an excellent piece of observation. The character Morrell brings back awful memories of acquaintances I had in my youth, and these people still hang around the estate like the foulest of stenches. The film replicated 'life' in a way that Danny Boyle would fail to comprehend.

There were some minor imperfections (for instance, the music was over the top), but Meadows is only 29, he has time to perfect his craft. For everyone disillusioned with British film and its compulsion to chase the dollar, this film will restore that lost faith.

I had my arm twisted to go and see this and was knocked out by the unsentimental acting of the two central young characters (Gavin and Romeo), as well as the brilliant accuracy of the dialogue (uncertain, banal and lyrical portrayals of tenderness and callousness coexisting wonderfully well). But I want to take this opportunity to talk about the cinema in which I saw it. The Plaza Community cinema in Crosby is absolutely brilliant for showing this film. it is run by a highly dedicated group of volunteers, whose leader (Janet) saved the cinema almost single handed from the ravages of the developers. It shows a great variety of films and is the nearest thing Merseyside gets to the Cornerhouse in Manchester. keep up the good work Janet.

Let me get to the point about this film. Paddy Considine is outstandingly brilliant in the role that should have made him an icon if anyone had bothered to see it! He is at once dynamic, dangerous, disturbing and occasionly comic. He reminded me of Travis Bickle that De Niro so brilliantly played in Taxi Driver. High praise indeed, but very deserving as we are in an age where everybody moans about British cinema without bothering to seek gems like this out. So well done to Shane Meadows, keep churning out class like this and 24/7 and you'll become a legend!! From The West Midlands

This film is a must see. This film gives further evidence that the industry is starting to once again, ever so slowly, support the independent or "left-field" films. In fact, support any film that has a DECENT story to tell and something to say.

Besides being a funny musing on friendships - Romeo and Gavin are best of mates, yet rarely say anything 'nice' to each other - in the best of British humour, it also contains perhaps one of the most frightening characters to be seen in a film in a very long time. The climax to this film will have your jaw hanging somewhere around waist-level. Patty Considine as Morrel is amazing, having a sort of hair-trigger eccentricity that pushes him, at the slightest touch, from lovable loner to something much much MUCH darker. The shot that Meadows includes of Morrel alone in his house crying, pulling back to reveal a sort of gas canister makes you wonder exactly what is going on in his head. FANTASTIC!

While Meadows is prone to indulge in the good old "finger-picking-guitar-music-over-shots-of-sombre-people" method of setting a mood, and does it fairly often, he can be excused EASILY by the power of this film, blending a PERFECT mix of humour and drama.

In my view, I'd pay 5-times the admission price for the climax alone

This film reminded me of how powerless you are as a child - just being outside can get you into a fight, while adults, who often have no right to, can have control over your life. It reminded me how children can "break" or "make" friends so easily, with past grievances forgiven and forgotten in a few seconds. Adults tend to find that a lot harder to do.

I watched this film without knowing anything about it, so perhaps I found the scenes where Morell threatens the two boys on different occasions to be extremely shocking (incidentally, the swearing which is almost constantly present in the film is NOT shocking in the slightest).

The main thing that I got from the film was concerned with how masculinity is defined - Morell tries to teach Romeo Brass how to be a "man" via weird survivalist techniques - violence, macho posturing, being able to take care of yourself seem to be the ways that masculinity is mediated. The bragging and posturing that occurs in the fights between Morell and the boy's fathers seem to mirror an earlier fight between the boys and two other boys who are playing football at the beginning of the film - "are you trying to start a fight?" "No, I AM starting a fight". It was interesting that Knock-Knock's father and Morell were both wearing almost identical shell-suits in the violent climax scene.

While this was technically a good film, I found it to be much more disturbing than Zombie Flesheaters or whatever, because of its realism.