Film Review of Once Upon a Time in the Midlands
Year: 2002 Reviewer: Chris Docker
(3/10) Robert Carlyle wakes up during the opening credits, apparently from a regular beer-sodden stupor. His unshaven face is eventually transfixed on the TV that he hadn't switched off from the night before. He sees his ex turning down a proposal of marriage on a Vanessa Feltz show (one of those Jerry Springer copycats) and decides to do something about it. I have to admit I left after half an hour as boredom seeped in like a pancreatic cancer. The cinema was nearly full and no-one had laughed once at that point in what has been described as a brilliant British situational comedy. If you are like me and the rest of the audience that night, maybe you don't find this kitchen sink humour watchable or even mildly amusing. The director did much better with Room for Romeo Brass - this later offering has all the hallmarks of a young director who has had a low-budget hit, on inspiration and enthusiasm rather than skill, and then goes on to make something with a rather unbalanced awareness of his abilities (or lack of them) as a film-maker.
Rating: 3/10
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