Borstal

Very dull film. Terrible music. I would not recommend it .

The quietest most orderly borstal I've ever come across. Appears to have a total of about ten inmates divided into two sets of characters. There's the ruffians always spoiling for trouble and the proper speaking good guys. The staff are generally all sergeant major types, barking out their orders. Not forgetting a big showdown between factions which ended by the baddy leader being....pushed.

Need to try harder than this.

This misses the mark on so many levels... What is it trying to be? This question is core to the films long string of misses...

As has been stated elsewhere, the actors are good, their track records on other mainstream and indie fare is widely recognised and their performances here are what makes this uneven and inconsistent film vaguely watchable.

There is so much potential material in the original story (not that it was particularly well conceived, but... ), that could have been explored and exploited... but it has been muddled into a visionless and amorphous mass...

Forth wall only works when it is juxtaposed against stark reality, consistent plot and character development.

This lacks the direction, dedication and understanding of genre necessary to make it work...

What can i say that other reviewers have not covered? just summing it up in a few words this is probably one the worst films i have seen in a while and i rarely turn a film off before its end. usually i get settled in my comfy armchair and loaded with cold drinks and popcorn i stay settled for the duration whatever but this had me choking on my popcorn as i was falling asleep, it was boring in both action and content and the story line was less interesting than people watching in a branch of my local coffee shop. i could not have given a lower star rating than 1 but if i could i would have given it a minus 3.

The cover of this DVD does not really provide an accurate description of the movie. Goodness knows how anyone could review anything based on a cover! I have watched this film and whilst it appears to be a tough youth prison story like 'Scum' and 'Dog Pound' it is far from that. First thing anyone interested has to get to grips with is just how low budget this is. The scenes are sparsely furnished and you often get shots of the outside of dull buildings before the interior is shown. The telephones on desks are from the 50's and not typical of the ones that the GPO provided in the late 60's and early 70's when this was supposed to be set. It is noticeable just how few extras there are in the movie and how few actors there are. The story is fairly average with a few minor moments of violence which were not very convincing. I noticed that the film was overexposed in some parts and that also made the cost factor apparent. Some of the acting was relatively decent and the plot far from full of hostility and violence is quite warm. I doubt if this would be good enough to get a showing on UK Terrestrial TV channels and looks set to be a DVD only release. All things considered the movie is a huge let down if the DVD cover and notes have been the primary buying decision.