SoulBoy

Look, I get the reviews. It's not great, the plot is wafer-thin, but the music is great and I can understand the constraints of the budget and actually think that the production design was well done.

However, the only major criticism of this film is the seemingly-short distance it apparently takes to get from Stoke to Wigan! Do you know how long that would take? Even today you're talking heading north for an hour, in a fast car, up the M6.

And as a Stoke native, Martin didn't do too bad with the accent, and he's Scottish. But as for the others, I see that the 'generic Northern' comes out again, when the Stoke accent is far more nuanced and difficult for an outsider. There's definite Derby/Nottingham twang in there, and maybe a bit of a Scouse. Toby Jones gave it a good go in Marvellous.

Anyway, worth a watch. Plenty of future stars in there.

Soulboy is directed by Shimmy Marcus and written by Jeff Williams. It stars Martin Compston, Felicity Jones, Alfie Allen, Nichola Burley, Pat Shortt and Craig Parkinson. Music is by Len Arran and photography by Vladimir Trivic.

1974, Stoke-On-Trent, and Joe McCain (Compston) is tiring of his humdrum, repetitive life. Then one day, prompted by his work colleague Brendan (Shortt), Joe finds the gumption to seek a date with pretty hairdresser Jane Rogers (Burley). She opens up a new world to him, a burgeoning music scene in the North of England known as Northern Soul, the epicentre of which is the Casino Club in Wigan. But as Joe begins to find his identity in a blast of all night dancing and friendship, drugs, violence and matters of the heart begin to hover over him like dark clouds waiting to unload.

Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy.

It's best just to say it straight off, this is hardly a film to do Northern Soul justice. The movement itself is forming the backdrop to a very basic, run-of-the-mill, coming of age romantic tale. Which is sad, that the plot is so weak and poorly written, because the music, dancing and period awareness is joyous. But at least its heart is in the right place, as it's always charming and quite often funny before things get serious in the final third; even if a dance off sequence in said final third is unintentionally daft. From the 70s vibe of Stoke-On-Trent, with the terrace houses and the potteries buildings, to the recreation of Wigan's famous Casino Club (it sadly burnt down in 1981), Marcus and his team really have an eye for period milieu (impressive given Marcus is a born and bred Dubliner). Shaggy hair cuts, platform shoes, tank-tops and Brut 33 aftershave, all keep us firmly in the time of setting, while vintage vehicles, although in short supply because of the small budget, also give the film that vital 70s edge.

Tainted Love.

Performances are mixed, but lead lad Compston (Red Road) does a grand job of conveying a 17 year old guy in limbo. With a killer smile and a good helping of dexterity for the dance sequences, he's engaging and provides a characterisation that's easy to get on side with and follow through to the end. Burley (Donkey Punch) is under written in what is meant to be one of the main parts, but this does allow the lovely Felicity Jones (Cemetery Junction) to shine through and bounce of off Compston's energy to great effect. Parkinson (Control) is badly miscast as dance floor bully Alan, while a fledgling romance between Jo Hartley (This is England) and Pat Shortt (Garage) doesn't offer much to the plot, which is a shame since both are more than capable actors. Vladimir Trivic's photography leans more to grime than glitz, which actually serves the film well, sort of paying homage to the working class roots of the main players. The sound track, picked by the likes of Paul Weller, is excellent.

It's not all it can be, mainly because plotting and writing is too weak. But it has great moments of levity and vitality (watching those kids dance is a real treat), to ensure it's enjoyable and never dull. 7/10

Northern Soul is back, it's being pumped into bars and clubs with rising regularity. Understandably with every resurrected craze, it had been converted into a film last year. The story is bland at best, with a predictable and formulaic path. The saving grace is a good performance by Martin Compston and the great soundtrack.

Soulboy is branded as a comedy drama, the comedy it speaks of is provided by various cheap jokes throughout, nothing showing real wit or craftsmanship. Cringe worthy dialogue and scenes abound with fairly wooden character acting providing the backdrop for see through storytelling.

Joe, as the likely lad, gets mixed up in drugs and the plot takes a dark turn. As it's a light hearted drama, no real harm comes of the actions. I don't want to bash the director and producers of the film as it is brilliantly shot, the dance scenes are a real treat to watch (except for the painful dance off) and everything is set up perfectly for the 70's from the platforms to the flares and the god awful red tank top. Regarding the dance off, maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that in Wigan in the 70's it would've been a fight not a dance. The film didn't need that scene but obviously someone had the bright idea of a big Hollywood style ending. This isn't what the audience wanted from a Northern Soul tribute.

Despite all of the problems with this film, it is enjoyable, mainly because of the music, some of which I've now added to my collection. If you enjoy Northern Soul then this film will get you yearning for the Casino Club, if you don't then there isn't a great deal else to draw you in as the script and predictability make it a no brainer of a watch. Without the music, this is a poor man's An Education.

The basic scenario of SOULBOY is a familiar one: boy Joe (Martin Compston) meets unattainable girl (Nichola Burley) and follows her up to a club in Wigan that functions as the center of Northern Soul. There he learns how to dance, but while doing so he gradually discovers that plain lass Mandy (Felicity Jones) has fallen in love with him. After Mandy takes an overdose, Joe realizes his true feelings. Back in the club he has an energetic dance-off with smarmy Alan (Craig Parkinson), and emerges triumphant, thereafter to enjoy love with Mandy.

The grimy, down-at-heel atmosphere of mid-Seventies Stoke-on-Trent is admirably evoked by director Shimmy Marcus, from the poky two-up, two-down houses to the local pub, where everyone pours pints down without ever seeming to enjoy themselves. Joe's mate Russ (Alfie Allen) has a grotesque dance that he calls the "dying fly," but he can only perform that when he is drunk. Sometimes Marcus overdoes the Seventies aura, such as having politician Enoch Powell speaking on one of the car radios; by 1974 he was virtually a spent force in politics, having resigned from the Conservative Party and joined the Ulster Unionists. Some of the cars seem a little antiquated too, dating from a decade earlier.

Once the action shifts to the club, however, the mise-en-scene changes abruptly. Vladimir Trivic's camera admirably captures the phantasmagoria of color, light, bodily movements, sweat and unadulterated fun that characterized the late-night gigs at the club, whose patrons came from all over the country each Saturday night by coach to enjoy the fun. For those of us with longer memories, the set pieces have strong echoes of Saturday NIGHT FEVER (1977) with Joe in the John Travolta role, but that resemblance does not detract from the exuberant staging, in which music and dance combine to create a series of stirring sequences. The final dance-off between Joe and Alan is something to behold: director Marcus uses slow-motion and frequent close-ups to make us aware of the sheer effort involved by the protagonists.

The film ends with a series of of short interviews from people - now very much middle-aged - that frequented the club when it was in its heyday during the mid-Seventies. Their reminiscences capture the atmosphere of excitement and daring that was characteristic of the club; no wonder it was named "best disco in the world" later on in the decade, despite its assuming location in a Lancashire industrial town.

I remember the buzz around this film a few years ago because it was shot in Stoke and part financed by the now disbanded Screen West Midlands. With whom I had some professional involvement. I can't add anything to the already excellent user comments about this film but will say what I would do differently were I making it. As other users say its a coming of age story set against the northern soul scene of the mid seventies. I've got interested enough in northern soul to have researched it and Wigan Casino was one of umpteen clubs across the midlands and north of England. My strongest criticism of this film is it doesn't work within its constraints of a low budget and the attempts to re create the Wigan Casino don't convince. They needed a bigger budget, a bigger cast of extras and so on. If I was making the film I'd have thought a lot smaller and set it in a fictional soul club or maybe even a youth club in Stoke on Trent. Stoke had a major Northern soul venue in any case I can t remember the name, as did places like Droitwich and Wolverhampton. When Hollywood do period films they have the budget to chuck at it that it convinces. We can't do it. There's all of three period vehicles that appear in the film. Some of the costumes and detailing are wrong. Did digital watches have alarms in 1974? I doubt it. But this is nonetheless entertaining and worth a watch, especially if you like retro drama. I've seen clips from the forthcoming NORTHERN SOUL film which looks a lot more convincing. I was six years old in 1974 so too young to be part of any scene but I still remember the decade and certain things can transport me back. There's a certain 'look' to the seventies and it needs a budget to achieve a convincing rendition in a film. What I saw of NORTHERN SOUL seemed to have it. SOULBOY is 2/3 of the way there, a commendable effort, worth seeing but in my opinion it would have been better if it had been a little more modest in it's ambitions.