STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs
As a young boy,Frankie (Kevin McKidd) idolises his father,until he discovers him to be a philandering p*sshead.Years later,he's formed a violence gang with three of his mates,terrorizing pubs and record shops with equal disdain.But then he finds love and finds his faith in life being redeemed and decides to turn his back on his old ways and start a new life.But then,he finds turning away from what you know is not very easy at all.
The film is shot in a style and presentation that I wasn't expecting it to be.The style of the story unravelled in a way I wasn't expecting either.But,if these are the provisos for enduring such an excellent film as 16 Years of Alcohol,I'll happily accept them.
Everything about the film just comes together brilliantly and perfectly.The script is fantastic,carried by lead star McKidd with a sobering,haunting presence and delivery making astute observations about life and especially the relevance of 'hope.'The film plays some clever homage to ones that have gone before it,such as,most prominently,A Clockwork Orange and Enter the Dragon.
Frankie's story is extremely engaging,as we follow him down his path from a happy,idealistic young boy to a disillusioned young man who can't identify love to anything and can only see the hard,grainy reality of life and accordingly decides to follow suite,onto an older and more mature man,hardened by the realities of life but more adhered to them and functioned to deal with them more knowingly,only for it all to tragically come crashing down around him for one silly mis-understanding.
If a film like Trainspotting could have made it as big as it did,with a far superior script it's hard to see why this couldn't.But maybe this should be kept apart from a mainstream audience and kept firmly stuck in it's art-house roots so that it can be appreciated by those who truly can.It really is a fantastic experience,the best film I've seen in ages and one I'd whole-heartedly recommend you to see.*****
As a young boy,Frankie (Kevin McKidd) idolises his father,until he discovers him to be a philandering p*sshead.Years later,he's formed a violence gang with three of his mates,terrorizing pubs and record shops with equal disdain.But then he finds love and finds his faith in life being redeemed and decides to turn his back on his old ways and start a new life.But then,he finds turning away from what you know is not very easy at all.
The film is shot in a style and presentation that I wasn't expecting it to be.The style of the story unravelled in a way I wasn't expecting either.But,if these are the provisos for enduring such an excellent film as 16 Years of Alcohol,I'll happily accept them.
Everything about the film just comes together brilliantly and perfectly.The script is fantastic,carried by lead star McKidd with a sobering,haunting presence and delivery making astute observations about life and especially the relevance of 'hope.'The film plays some clever homage to ones that have gone before it,such as,most prominently,A Clockwork Orange and Enter the Dragon.
Frankie's story is extremely engaging,as we follow him down his path from a happy,idealistic young boy to a disillusioned young man who can't identify love to anything and can only see the hard,grainy reality of life and accordingly decides to follow suite,onto an older and more mature man,hardened by the realities of life but more adhered to them and functioned to deal with them more knowingly,only for it all to tragically come crashing down around him for one silly mis-understanding.
If a film like Trainspotting could have made it as big as it did,with a far superior script it's hard to see why this couldn't.But maybe this should be kept apart from a mainstream audience and kept firmly stuck in it's art-house roots so that it can be appreciated by those who truly can.It really is a fantastic experience,the best film I've seen in ages and one I'd whole-heartedly recommend you to see.*****