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Helen M Jerome reviews
Warner Home Video
- Cert:
- Cat.no: D 094636
- Running time: 102 minutes
- Chapters: 20
- Year: 2002
- Pressing: 2003
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Sound: Dolby Surround (DD2.0)
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras: Director’s Feature-length Audio Commentary (UK exclusive), Sweet Success Documentary, Theatrical Trailer
Director
- Ken Loach
Cast:
- Liam: Martin Compston
Chantelle: Annmarie Fulton
Pinball: William Ruane
Suzanne: Michelle Abercromby
Jean: Michelle Coulter
Stan: Gary McCormack
One of director Ken Loach’s finest films, Sweet Sixteen follows in the footsteps of Loach’s other masterpiece, Kes, in casting a completely unknown teenager in the lead role.
That was then with David Bradley as Billy and this is now with Martin Compston as the eternally optimistic and resilient Liam. Nearing his 16th birthday, Liam just wants to be reunited with his ex-heroin addict mum, Jean, when she gets out of prison. He aims to raise money to buy them somewhere to live where he can keep her clean and sober, away from the influence of his drunken grandfather and his mother¹s drug-dealing, abusive boyfriend, Stan two men without a single redeeming feature. And Liam also naively hopes to make the family complete by reconciling his mum with his 17-year-old sister and single parent Chantelle plus her toddler son, Callum.
So with his joyriding pal Pinball, Liam starts small, selling contraband ciggies around local pubs, before graduating into Greenock’s drug dealing underworld. After surviving some brutal beatings, Liam is initiated into a gangster’s gang, running his own pizza delivery service as a cover for drug deliveries. His entrepreneurial spirit and resourcefulness mean he’s successful at every step, and despite intending to stop every time he gets enough cash, Liam gets deeper and deeper into the drugs trade.
There is always hope and a jaunty humour to get us through the bleaker moments, but absolutely no moralising from Loach and his writing partner, Paul Laverty. For this is an unsentimental tale of a bright, courageous young man who could have been somebody, seeks to rise above his circumstances and patch his family together, but in the process, destructs his own dream, piece by piece. And once again proving that you don¹t need a posse of seasoned actors, Loach coaxes universally excellent performances from his company.
English subtitles might not seem vital for a homegrown film, but you may find the Glaswegian brogue easier to follow with the subtitles on (I certainly found them useful during My Name is Joe – DVDfever Dom)
And the BBC Scotland documentary, Sweet Success, is a neat summary of Martin Compston¹s transformation from Greenock Morton footballer and Ewan McGregor fan to naturalistic leading man lauded at Cannes. Best of all is Ken Loach’s UK-exclusive director’s commentary, which is illuminating on many levels: chatting about casting and filming; lambasting the “special kind of British hypocrisy” which gave the film an 18 certificate; dropping in little insights about training the lads in skills like moped riding; and always giving social and economic context.
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.