One for the Road

Nothing like the boozy, comedy fusion of The Office and The Full Monty some half-cut lads mag reviews would have you believe.

Instead, once you get past the choppy attention-seeking visuals and lapses into a sixth former's idea of what constitutes street cred dialogue, Chris Cooke's debut is more akin to a seedy Glengarry Glen Ross.

An unlikely group comprising wannabe businessman Jimmy (Greg Chisholm), retired property dealer Richard (a portly and excellent Hywell Bennett), slacker cabbie Mark (Mark Davenport) and bitter alcoholic salesman Paul (Rupert Proctor) forms during a rehab course for drink drivers and frequently adjourns to the nicotine-stained bonhomie of a local pub.

It's mostly Jimmy's story and he's desperate to prove himself, egged on by cynical Paul to tap their rich new pal Richard for help.

Pub life here looks far grubbier than it did in the superior Last Orders and these characters are neither quirky nor likable; they're largely irredeemable pub bores, bigging themselves up to offset their shortcomings.

Yet while this capsizes any chance of a chuckle-fest, it does nevertheless serve to imbue events with a bleak, queasy humour.

I really wanted to like this film, but it boiled down to Lock, Stock and Two Broken Whiskey Bottles.

The plot concentrates on a group of convicted drink-drivers and their journey through 'alcoholism therapy' - how they deal with their misdemeanour and the effects that their drinking have on friends and family. However, it's not a dour tale of depressed drinkers or even alcoholics; it's four men going through crises and spending a lot of time in the pub.

The characters were strong, but have all been done before in 'Lock, Stock' and 'Trainspotting' - the young lad, the lairy misfit, the nice bloke trying to do good and the sensible one, but the plot was shot through. There was no real bite to the story, no surprises and no thrills. The tone was patronising and the visuals Trainspotting-esque.

there is a definite 'mike leigh' overtone here both in terms of the realism and the male female relationships, particularly between the main character and the barmaid, and thats a good thing. the 'comedy' derives from the relationship between the characters. you are meant to think these guys met on a booze rehabilitation course and don't give much of a monkeys about it apart from getting they're licsense back and thats exactly what you will think because of the excellent casting and acting. one thing i really like in films is when you go 'cool, i never would have thought of doing that' anyone else that shares that view should see this. remember when channel four films were making great stuff? this would have been up there with comic strip.

A black comedy about alcohol addiction. If that makes you think twice about watching it then don't. As you can imagine, a film dealing with such a subject will be pretty dark and this definitely is. Disjointed at times with a plot that doesn't really cover the relationships that the characters are ruining through their own addiction lets this film down. The acting performances are competent and there is some empathy that you develop occasionally. At times it is very, very funny and the film is done in a mix of The Office style documentary and fly-on-the-wall film which works very well. Not the greatest but again significantly better than most of the guff that Hollywood turfs out. 7.5/10.

If you're familiar with the films of Shane Meadows then give this a try. Located in the same region (Notts) as SM bases his films this has the same dry, deadpan humour with dark undertones and real settings.

I don't like making direct comparisons and although I've used Shane Meadows as a reference I think this stands on its own as a quality piece of work. The principal characters are pathetic to a man, drink drivers compulsorily attending a course to try to get their sentences reduced. Delusion plays a big part in their make up, almost endearing in their hopeless optimism. A British film that doesn't depend on cockney chancers and tasty geezers. Thank f........... See it/rent it/buy it. Simple as that.