Like it's almost simultaneously made-for-TV mate 'Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise' these 2 low budget TV films seem to be Boyle's reaction to getting caught up in the machinery of Hollywood -- both in style (shot on video, lots of hand-held, a rawness) and in theme (both are, in their own ways, satires on the ills of capitalism and selling out). But where 'Vacuuming' was more of an over the top, super dark and somewhat angry comedy/satire, 'Strumpet is a bit more gentle and fairy-tale like. An angry young poet (a great Chris Eccelston), who is followed by the stray neighborhood dogs everywhere (hence his name 'Strayman') meets an adorable waif like young woman who can (sort of) play the guitar. They dance around in his living room, her naked, singing a song made up from the words of his poems, which he has scribbled all over the wall. A goofily enterprising young neighbor makes a demo tape, and sets out to get them a career. And lo and behold, he pulls it off, but at the expense of almost destroying who they are as the system tries to mainstream them. This is charming, well acted stuff, although hard to take seriously on any but the most fanciful level. The idea that these two screaming bizarre poetry would be swept up as the 'next big thing' is very far-fetched, especially since the song really isn't that great (which may well be part of the point). On some levels the second half, about the corrupting evils of the record business taking away their innocence is overly familiar, even if done here with more originality than usual. But the opening half, as these two oddballs just get to know and trust each other, is deeply charming.
