Junkhearts

I've just seen Junkhearts at Chapter Arts centre in Cardiff. I saw Junkhearts solely because I'm a big fan of Eddie Marsan and wanted to see him in a lead role, as I think he's a fantastic actor with a great range and a lightness of touch. As expected Eddie Marsan was fantastic, here playing an ex-solider, and brought a freshness to quite a now archetypal character. Familiar as this archetype is, the character is normally played out in a flat depressed state that flies off the handle at a moments notice. Instead the director Tinge Krishnan chooses to create a distance between the character of Frank and everybody else, in terms of the acting, the cropped framing, the use of negative space, and specific points of focus, which works really effectively. Within Junkhearts we are also introduced to newcomer Candese Reid, who was found at Nottingham's Television Workshop – famous for Paddy Considine and the This Is England cast. Her character Lynette works her way under Frank's emotional barrier, fully realised in a spine-tingling scene where Frank cracks his first smile we've seen, bathed in gorgeous sun light. The performances of Frank and Lynette felt truthful and authentic and I felt sympathetic to each character and that's a testament to the director. Furthermore, the execution of the script really engaged me throughout. It was incredibly shot by Catherine Derry, I loved the self-defence/dance scene seeped in sunflare, the lovely bokeh in the bar scene with Shaun Dooley and Romola Garai, the bleak scenes in and around the tower block and lifts, the uncomfortable framing with Eddie when he's having flashbacks, the lovely slow-motion when he dances, and I loved the practical lighting, and the strip lighting inside the flat. If you like the work of Lynne Ramsay, Andrea Arnold, Mike Leigh, and Shane Meadows, Junkhearts could be right up your street. One to watch in 2012.

Junkhearts is directed by Tinge Krishnan and written by Simon Frank. It stars Eddie Marsan, Candese Reid, Tom Sturridge and Romola Garai. Story has Marsan as Frank, an alcoholic ex-soldier suffering nightmares over an incident that saw him shoot a young mother. Frank strikes up an unlikely friendship with Lynette (Reid), a homeless girl sleeping rough on the streets. Once barriers are broken down, Frank takes Lynette into his home to stay, but it's not long before Lynette's drug dealing boyfriend comes a calling...

For the most part Junkhearts is a very gritty slice of British miserablism. The pic is populated by addicts and wannabe gangsters, in a part of London built of dingy concrete council abodes, and where single promiscuous moms struggle to keep a grip on their lives.

Director Krishnan suffered herself from PTSD, so she was on hand to ensure the great Marsan could do the role justice, while there's a refreshing street believability about young Reid's performance. The camera work is intense and deliberately intruding, with the sound work being hypnotic to add bleaker tones to the characterisations.

The harshness and hurts of addiction rings true here, as does the key betrayal plot line and the breakdown of Frank. Unfortunately the parallel plot line featuring Romola Garai undermines the grit and grime surrounding Frank and Lynette's world, and it sadly serves only to give the pic a somewhat disappointing ending. Whilst the introduction of gun and knife crime appraisals don't strike the requisite powerful chords.

Yet even with its flaws this is still an intense film, with Marsan on top form and some other technical smarts on show, it's well worth a look by anyone interested in a slice of some moody British underbelly. 7/10

I couldn't recommend Junkhearts highly enough – if you only choose one film to see in 2012 I implore you to make it this one. I went to a showing of Junkhearts at The Renoir not sure quite what to expect, feeling compelled to go with a friend who had seen it advertised at the London Film Festival. I would have been satisfied simply to have been able to say I'd seen it if I'm honest. Instead I found myself completely lost in the lives of Frank and Lynette – an army veteran suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and a homeless girl from Nottingham. The story that unfolds seems bleak from the outset but it completely took my breath away. Sure it's not for the fainthearted, but it's also funny, moving and showcases a script full of wonders I didn't expect.

Junkhearts is a gritty film set in London that starts promisingly but gets derailed due to poor execution and a muddled and derivative screenplay.

Frank (Eddie Marsan) is a reclusive ex-soldier, drunk and suffering from post traumatic stress as he is haunted by his past. He takes in a young homeless girl Lynette (Candese Reid) when she is having a spot of bother outside an off licence and she stays at his shabby flat.

At first they strike up a tentative friendship but then her boyfriend Danny turns up and also moves into the flat before long there is sex, drugs, alcohol and partying and Frank is like a prisoner in his own flat and it looks like Lynette has used him.

I just wanted Frank to knock Danny's lights out but what we get is a dreary melodrama which stems into a cliché ridden thinly plotted mess.

As a former trauma consultant, I can safely claim that Eddie Marsan's character draws from a credible and real portrayal of those who have experienced trauma in combat situations and war-zones. It is this authenticity that grounds Marsan's tremendous performance. Tinge Krishnan captures the mood, style and pace well to ensure the emotionality of the piece infuses into the viewer's awareness at just the right pitch, so we share the journey of the characters. Tom Sturridge should also take credit for his strong performance. Hats off to Simon Frank for writing an excellent script on a difficult subject, that doesn't exploit, sensationalise or stereotype. This is a film that will stay with you. And right it should.