Although tit isn't fair to criticise this story for being unrelentingly bleak, it is hard to watch it and, once seen, I cannot imagine why anyone would wish to rewatch it again even within the medium term. It is depressing watching but yet quite compelling and convincing as it paints a world where "bettering oneself" is nothing more than liberal wishful thinking. Laverty's script brings these out well without ever making it come over a preaching or hand-wringing, instead he just presents it for what it is, which is far from cheerful. The gritty, depressing locations and the frequent, strong language are only cosmetic things that suggest the problem because really the grittiness is all in the characters and their situations. The entrapping nature of his world is seen in the need to get in deeper in order to get out and so it goes. In Liam's story his hope is not to become rich but just to get out of the area and hopefully get a normal life with his mother. Typically for those trapped within this sort of world, the goal is to get out of the situation but using the situation to do it but, unlike Jay Z, the story rarely sees the protagonists living to rich old lives married to the sexiest pop diva around. So it is with Sweet Sixteen, which sets us down in a Scottish world of poverty and crime where "opportunity" is having a good supply and a good spot to sell, while being seen as having "potential" means that you can sell without using the stash yourself. At times watching a Ken Loach film is a bit like being having your face pushing down into something unpleasant for two hours occasionally you get to come up and take a breath of fresh air but you are quickly pushed right back down again soon enough. However his opportunities for getting money to set them up is limited and he steals drugs from his step-father's stash and tries to deal them off as quick as possible to make the money he needs. With his mother due to be released in only a few months, Liam is determined to get her a new start along with him, his sister and her young son. His step-father and grandfather having him smuggling drugs in to his mother's prison for her to sell on, while his activities with friend pinball can only politely be described as "anti-social". So there.Liam is a teenager surrounded by crime and poverty all around him.
When I said "it's close to that," I meant in terms of greatness, & not plot-wise. There's not much resemblance between the two. I mentioned 'American History X' because the movie reminded me of it while watching it.
Surely recommended.ĮDIT: Just because someone asked, I felt I should clarify it once & for all. The movie wouldn't have been so effective otherwise. The actors were all new faces to me, but everyone performed well. I'd not give away what exactly it is, just in case (yep, of late, I've decided not to give out big spoilers as far as possible). well, you already know what kind of ending you're supposed to expect with this type of movies. And pieces start falling in their place for him. He resorts to crime to make his dreams come true. It takes a sneak peek into the life of a boy who wants to lead a sound life with his mom who's currently serving time in jail. That's where the movie scored for me, because generally I don't get that kind of a feeling for such characters (or the characters I can't relate to). It made me care for the protagonist even after knowing that what he's doing is quite unethical. It's not a tearjerker, but the way the relations are portrayed is quite touching. It's relatively realistic & way better than most of the crime dramas I've recently seen. It's not 'American History X', but it's close to that. And having just watched it, I'm glad I did. I know it's predictable, but still.) mentioned that it's a crime related movie, I was inclined to check it out.
(Off topic, but Shakespeare didn't know shit when he coined "What's in name?") But when it came as a recommendation from one of the friends here (by mvieaddict, to be specific), & the review (which I fortunately didn't read fully. Now, the title itself is enough to prompt me to click on 'NOT INTERESTED'. Sounds like a chick flick (nothing wrong if you like that genre it's just that I'm not into that kind of movies in general).
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