Somers Town
Dir: Shane Meadows
2008
**
I love Shane Meadows, like I've said countless times, he is a saviour to British cinema. In Somers Town he takes the tone down a notch after the success of This is England and goes back to his short film roots, a well thought out move, admirable and wise. It's nice to see a director keep things real after huge success and to keep experimenting. It's a shame then that what could have been a sweet little film turns out to be rather disappointing. Its got the great Perry Benson in a supporting role and young Thomas Turgoose is maturing into a great actor. I also liked the scenes with the Polish Father and Son, I thought they were quite sweet and touching. On the whole however, Somers Town is totally lacking in magic, or at least the comforting feel of Meadows's previous work - including his short films. It's not at all bad, far from it, it's just nothing particularly special.