Shoplifters of the World

As both a bit of a film buff and an obsessive Smiths fan of 35 years, I kinda knew this film would be bad - how could it live up to any expectations? And yes it was terrible but I kinda loved it too. It was awfully cliched - so many lines lifted from smiths songs which as a 17 year old I might have found clever. It was clearly written and directed with love but probably a University thesis - in the hands of a Dexter Fletcher (Sunshine on Leith anyone?) it would have been a masterpiece. As it was I forgave it for its insufferable moments and enjoyed the music. I have no doubt that its heart was in the right place and that will do for me. I guess it's like watching a bad smiths cover band. You know you're gonna clench your teeth but you'll still relive some of the magic of your youth.

If The Smiths were not the soundtrack to your life, at best this will be a. John Hughes-inspired 80's flashback film about that group of friends in the waning days of high school lamenting their future without each other.

If however your life made much more sense once you discovered Morrissey and Johnny and every coy twisted lyric that made you feel better about yourself and the world we live in, this is the movie that will make you laugh and cry and remind you that you are not alone, you were never alone and how at the worst of times, you can still sing your life.

This loving and respectful homage to everything The Smiths, with layers of references done in a period-piece style, should probably have been made decades earlier... but is well worth the wait.

Thank you to the entire team who gave this gift to those of us who will watch it over and over again.

Cringiest dialogue ever in a film.

All of the forced lyrical quoting in normal conversation put my girlfriend in a coma.

The acting was mostly terrible, except for Joe Mangenelo's performance.

Your enjoyment of this film will probably depend on your awareness of the Smith's music. One of the best and most important bands to come out of England in the 1980s, but still (bizarrely) unknown by a lot of people. I personally enjoyed this film, but then I'm a big fan of the Smiths. I could pull the film apart and say it was a bit cheesy, a simplistic story, etc, but my enjoyment of the film and the music superseded all that. At the end of the day it's just nice to see this band get more recognition, especially in the 2020s.

Life before internet... before social media... WAS fun.