The Rack Pack

The Rack Pack is right up my street. I was big into snooker in the 80's and 90's . The time when the sport was massive and it had some larger than life personalities. None larger than the focus of this film Alex "Hurricane Higgins" Higgins. I never liked Higgins very much back then because being from Plumstead I was a big Davis fan . This BBC film doesn't sugar coat Higgins at all. it's quite brutal in it's portrayal and because of that I have to compliment the director Brian Welsh . Probably the most impressive thing about this is the casting. Luke Treadaway is great as Higgins ( the accent strays a little at times) as is Will Merrick as Steve Davis but the inspirational piece of casting is Kevin Bishop as Barry Hearn. Bishop got Hearn down to a T. I absolutely loved this film and if the BBC keep producing dramas like this they can have no complaints from me about the licence fee.

From Treadaway's accent and mannerisms, to the clever interposition of excerpts of TV commentary from those early 1980s matches.. this film is (like the Steve Davis era it portrays) universally professional.

The characters are spot on, the emotional story played with respect, but without deference and above all (in capturing the effectiveness of this piece) the snooker sequences are brilliant! If you go onto Youtube and watch Higgins' 1982 Semi-Final "break of the tournament", then straight after you watch Treadaway jerking and swaying to the same beat you will see what I mean. How on this planet they recreated that blue to the top corner??? - The best thing I've seen for at least a year!

I grew up watching snooker just as it boomed on TV and the Higgins / Davis rivalry came to prominence, so I thoroughly enjoyed this warts and all dramatisation of the relationship between the mercurial Irishman and the stolid Essex boy in the early 80's. I like my sporting and musical heroes to be mavericks so no prizes for guessing where my sympathies lay and from the production here, I suspect that was true for the director too. Unquestionably an often far from pleasant man, an alcoholic with a foul tongue and short temper, Higgins, like that other genius Belfast boy, George Best, always seemed to have one finger poised over the self-destruct button, treating his life like one big game of snakes and ladders, where the falls outnumbered the rises not only in number but in scale.

Sporting rivalry always makes for good copy, as witness down the years Borg and McEnroe, Hunt and Lauda, Ali and Frazier to name but three, where one is usually undramatic and coolly professional, the other as being flamboyant and rebellious. Higgins at his best could beat anyone on the green baize, but with his showmanship, temper outbursts and alcoholic intake all distracting him at times, he could never match the discipline, professionalism and steadiness of a Davis. If Higgins was the self-proclaimed People's Champion, then Davis was the Grannie's Favourite.

This BBC movie accurately captures the 70's and 80's era as snooker came out of the smoky back rooms and, its image greatly cleaned up, onto TV screens as the favourite armchair sport of the nation in the mid 80's. With a largely contemporary rock music soundtrack in the background, although many songs are haphazardly placed in the wrong year, excellent recreations of the big matches themselves and above all a terrific performance by Luke Treadaway as the compelling Higgins, I was certainly transported back to my youth eagerly following the Hurricane's wayward progress in both his sport and his troubled life.

With sharp dialogue, including many good jokes and fine acting support by Will Merrick as the "interesting" Davis and especially Kevin Bishop as the latter's Kingmaker manager Barry Hearn, this was as riveting as watching Higgins compiling a break. I didn't believe everything I saw, especially the scenes where Higgins begs Hearns to be his manager or Davis talking Higgins out of his depression at losing a match when well into his decline, but I recognised enough other scenes and can allow some dramatic licence to heighten the drama.

In the final summing up I'd prefer to watch Higgins play than Davis, but after the match I'm sure I'd prefer to be in the latter's company. I'm sure they played down some of the Irishman's excesses, but being deceased, he probably deserved the respect this fine film affords him.

And just as a postscript, I personally think they should have added his name to Best's for the naming of Belfast's airport, his star burned as brightly and briefly as his footballing near-contemporary.

THE RACK PACK tells a straightforward tale by contrasting the life of clean-cut Steve Davis (Will Merrick) with that of maverick Alex Higgins (Luke Treadaway). Obsessed with snooker from an early age, Davis was taken up by manager Barry Hearn (Kevin Bishop) and transformed into a media personality. His trademark gestures on the snooker table was carefully studied; and he was encouraged to make jokes about his allegedly boring public persona. Success on the table only helped to increase his profile; throughout the Eighties he was always the man to beat.

Higgins was the complete antithesis. A genius at the table, he led a wild private life dominated by drink. He had a family, with a long-suffering wife (Nichola Burley) and two children, but they eventually left him. He had plenty of money and spent the lot; in desperation he approached Hearn to manage him, but was abruptly refused. His star declined; by 1990 he had been eliminated in the first round of the World Snooker Championship.

Brian Welsh's production tried to adopt an even-handed approach, but it was palpably clear that Higgins's story was dramatically more effective, thereby proving Barry Hearn's point that people respond to failure more enthusiastically than success. Luke Treadaway's performance was thoroughly creditable, combining relentless self- confidence with chronic insecurity. He needed the company of others, especially his practicing (and drinking) partner Jimmy White (James Bailey); when White signed up for Hearn, Higgins was left completely isolated.

The only real criticism that can be leveled at this production was that it did not really take account the positive aspects of Higgins's life. He was certainly self-destructive, yet he also put snooker on the map as a televised sport. In the days of Ray Reardon and John Spencer the game was perceived as respectable yet rather staid, the kind of thing suitable for the BBC's POT BLACK yet not a ratings winner. Higgins's colorful personality helped to transform the game into a huge success during the Eighties, attracting viewing figures far in excess of mainstream sports such as soccer.

Nonetheless, Welsh's production made a thoroughly competent job of recreating snooker's glory days, with its recreation of the Crucible Theatre and John Sessions's memorable impersonation of "Whispering" Ted Lowe's commentary interspersed with the BBC's original soundtrack.

The Rack Pack (2016) docu drama about the rise of Barry Hearn's Matchroom stable of snooker players of the early 80's. Focusing principally on the rise of Steve "the Nugget" Davis and subsequent decline of Alex "Hurricane" Higgins. Like all great sports films at the heart of the action is the rivalry between differing personalities, be it Borg v McCenroe, Hunt v Lauda and no doubt there is a film/ book being written about Messi v Ronaldo.

I had'nt realised how much I recalled from my childhood about the early days of snooker on tv. Its a great film and you dont need to know that much about the snooker just to understand that there will always be a new kid on the block to turn over the reigning champ. A snooker loopy 8/10.