When I'm Sixty-Four

Bittersweet moments of change bring a couple together at low tide. Uncomfortable and moving, this view of English culture tags toxic masculinity with humanity.

"Such a short little life," means so much more when breaking barriers. You gotta love when a film has meaning beyond entertainment.

This is art.

Ageing footie thug and Cockney cabbie Ray (Paul Freeman), a widower with grasping kids, meets refined retired teacher Jim (Alun Armstrong) and strikes up an unusual friendship which forces him to reassess his priorities, his feelings and his prejudices.

The BBC drama took what is still a thorny subject and treated it with class and sensitivity, helped enormously by the playing of Armstrong in particular. As Ray's kids, Jason Flemyng and Tamsin Outhwaite have little to do but do it well. As the terminally-ill friend and fellow ex-thug Billy, Karl Johnson is also very good.

A well-written, well-directed piece of drama which only lets itself down by the enforced contrast between the backgrounds of the two lead characters, and with the (almost) cop-out ending.

I saw this drama a couple of years ago now on YouTube... alas it has disappeared. What a wonderful story of the growing friendship and later love between two gentleman in the later years of their life. With all the rubbish that is put out on DVD though the question has to be asked why this excellent drama has never been released on DVD.

After seeing New Tricks, I wanted to see more of Alun Armstrong. This was very well done. To be honest I thought it was a tv series so was disappointed when it was a movie. I also wanted to see more of the guys trying more things and travelling lol.

The sh$tty kids were, well, sh#tty. Not sure if they were realistic or not but their stranglehold and emotional blackmail over their dad was nicely done.

Two of my favorite actors from New Tricks. Surprising twists, gutsy and fun. I find that increasingly, I orefer British TV to American. More real, less violent, less woke/value signaling/political.