Fathers of Girls

I caught this at the opening gala performance of the Southend Film Festival and as exciting as it was sitting amongst the cast and crew - including Ray Winstone himself - it couldn't detract from the fact that Fathers of Girls is a difficult watch. I don't just mean in terms of its bleak subject matter (drug abuse), but because its plods along at such a pedestrian pace without anything too dramatic ever happening.

The film was something of a family affair what with Winstone and Halmans's daughters both starring and lifelong friend Karl Howman directing (Winstone did it for free), it took only 10 days to shoot, and it shows in the poor direction, uninspired locations of Salisbury, irritating internal monologue from Winstone, which really wasn't needed -it's all about the subtext, we don't need it force fed to us.

I am a fan of social realist movies and having seen BAFTA winning Fish Tank previously, I just found Fathers of Girls really poor in comparison. Winstone and Howman are working on a new project together, let's hope they have more than 10 days to shoot it and a better script to work from.

In closing, Winstone should be applauded for working on this for free and fitting it in between Edge of Darkness with Mel Gibson.

Came onto this site to see if the film was available on DVD as I wished to get one for my dad for father's day and saw the review by zelx. I too was at the gala viewing and we must have been watching a different movie. I thought the film was beautifully written and the subject matter handled with such delicate care.

This is not an action movie and Ray Winstone is cast perfectly against type, he doesn't beat or shoot anyone, no car chases, vigilante plots or explosions helped along with fast cutting and wobbly camera work. The subject of true love and loss is told incredibly well with almost a theatre style where the audience is allowed to take in a scene without constant interruptions from the movie makers. I thought the locations were beautiful and helped the story, I felt it was deliberate to counterpoint the sad story without making the film look depressing.

Putting across how someone feels when a loved one is lost is an incredibly tall order and for a film made on a very small budget, I believe completely funded by the makers, should be applauded and congratulated for being brave enough to stay away from commercially expected formula scenes. Ray Winstone was incredibly good and totally surprised me with his performance which was so moving.

As a final note, I too have seen Fish Tank and yes it was a very good film too but to me lacked the emotional level of this film. This is not a mainstream film and more a European style and the makers should be very proud of what they have achieved. I wish them all the luck.