Mark Herman's 'Brassed Off' was a winning mixture of sentimental comedy and authentic anger; while 'Little Voice' was a bizarre, original and at times surreal comedy that defied genre. 'Purely Belter', his third film, sadly can't live up to its predecessors. A story of life at the lowest end of Newscastle's social scale, its two central characters, a pair of young thieves, are presented as wholly likable idiots who wouldn't hurt a fly; this is offset by the ever present possibility of the whole film collapsing into unbearably mawkish tragedy. Herman's previous films had a key musical element; this one doesn't, and it's a shame that into this vacuum he has put a bland and irrelevant mix of contemporary pop music. Moreover the stars have disappeared: while his first two films featured Ewan MacGregor, the biggest star in this one is a footballer not an actor!
What saves 'Purely Belter' is Herman's undiminished gift for comedy, whether silly or black: the film makes you laugh, and the monstrous scene where the boys father sings karoake is both chilling and hysterical. Overall, however, the mixture of realism and fairytale jars more often then it gels. Try watching Shane Meadows' underrated classic 'A Room for Romeo Brass' instead, which works similar themes with more believability, subtlety and power.
What saves 'Purely Belter' is Herman's undiminished gift for comedy, whether silly or black: the film makes you laugh, and the monstrous scene where the boys father sings karoake is both chilling and hysterical. Overall, however, the mixture of realism and fairytale jars more often then it gels. Try watching Shane Meadows' underrated classic 'A Room for Romeo Brass' instead, which works similar themes with more believability, subtlety and power.