London Town

This is a fabulous coming of age story, set against the back drop of London in the 70's and the music of The Clash. The film is cleverly put together with a great mix of humour, emotion, gritty reality and music of The Clash.

The acting is superb particularly Daniel Huttlestone as Shay, although little Alice steals the show more than once! Jonathan Rhys Meyers could be Joe Strummer, with his attitude and great voice. It's a movie that makes you think, laugh and cry.

A real British film, I have already seen this twice and will happily watch again!

I really enjoyed this movie, it's a light drama about a complex subject and era and a kid living a difficult time in it. It's true that it feels a bit naive and unrealistic in many ways, but the good acting, likeable characters, bit of humour and the music (I'm not even a fan of punk music or The Clash, but it was a plus for me) made me forgive the lack of realism and enjoy a light-hearted adventure. Also, as I've been living in London for the last 8 years, I really enjoy watching movies portraying the city as it was before I got here, so this is an interesting aspect of the movie for me. Great movie, not as serious as some may wanted it to be, but very enjoyable.

Coming of age tale about a young boy who discovers the Clash via his estranged mother and a girl on a train.

From the opening minutes you can perceive a nice tale which frankly is pretty unbelievable from some wooden acting, a poor portrayal of Joe Strummer and a teen romance than frankly is a bit wishy washy.

The whole punk scene is frankly pretty badly portrayed, the Anti Nazi League concert is mixed with some footage from the Clash's own rude boy film, factually incorrect as far as timelines are concerned for the die hard Clash fan but frankly all a bit dull and predictable.

Is one one for the DVD bargain bin in months to come, shame as The Clash still stand up as one of Britain's best bands shoulder to shoulder with The Whos of this world and expected a little more in the Quadrophenia or Sid and Nancy mould, this more a twee film that a 14 year old would find sweet more than a tale of 1978 and punk rock.

Greetings again from the darkness. The late 1970's in London were filled with political, social and labor discontent. Director Derrick Borte (The Joneses, 2009) and writer Matt Brown (The Man Who Knew Infinity, 2015) use this backdrop, along with some cutting edge music of the era, to tell a coming-of-age story that is enjoyable despite its predictability.

Daniel Huttlestone (Into the Woods) plays 15 year old Shay (not Che) who carries the burden of babysitting for his sister Alice (Anya McKenna-Bruce) and cooking for his two-job dad Nick (Dougray Scott), as he dreams of meeting up with his free-spirited mom Sandrine (Natascha McElhone) who lives a bohemian lifestyle in London. Things start to change for Shay once he receives a package from his mom … his first taste of music from The Clash.

Soon enough, Shay finds himself chatting it up on a commuter train with wild girl Vivian (Nell Williams), who generously shares her own music from The Clash, as well as some insight into the band, and even a ticket to their next concert. After the best night of Shay's life, a work accident puts his dad in the hospital, requiring the son to take on even more responsibility.

More than a coming of age story, this is what I call "the teenage awakening". Once the world starts opening up to Shay, he begins to question everything. A serendipitous night in the clink with Joe Strummer (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) brings some surprisingly grounded philosophy and guidance. "Some people just burn bright" is a spot-on description of Shay's mom and a lesson to Shay that parents are people too.

The movie belongs to Huttlestone, who bounces between responsible young man, bullied teen, and anti-establishment rebel. Ms. Williams is delightful in her role, and JRM brings the necessary hard edge to Strummer. Director Borte has a really nice eye for scenes, but probably was a bit too stingy with Clash tunes. The timing for the film is a bit unfortunate, as it's released in the same year as the similar but superior Sing Street. Still it's an enjoyable little film with enough philosophy sprinkled in that we don't even mind the predictable ending with "I Fought the Law" carrying us to closing credits.

I really liked Jonathan Rhys Meyers in it as Joe Strummer. It was fun to see him play a real lively character as the front man of The Clash.

The movie itself is more about how a boy named Shay is influenced by the music of the Clash while going through some hard times. His really hot mom (played by Natascha McElhone) left the family to live the life she wanted, while his father (Played by Dougray Scott), plays the classic stereotype of an adult who forgot what it was like to be young and is shifting too much responsibility on his son.

London Town is greatly similar to another Coming-of-Age film, Sing Street (which is a little better), as Shay allows a crush on a punk rock girl to greatly influence his walk down the path of punk, which leads him to meeting Joe Strummer.

The film's formula is very direct, and it's focus on punk rock makes it a perfect persona of the early days of the genre. It's a love letter to The Clash any fan would enjoy.