Score : 6/10
Year : 2010
Country: UK
Language: English
Duration: 1h35
Summer, 1973. Bruce, Freddy & Mike are working-class friends who live in Cemetery Junction, a dreary suburb of Reading. They each have difficulties with their lives, and try to find how to deal with it, while dreaming of better prospects.
The movie is rated-R for crude language, some dialogues are from racist characters, others pertain to alcohol, sex or nudity. Nothing is graphic, not even a couple fights that occur in the movie, and the only nudity shown is through 2 tattoos.
Side characters, their acts, words and attitudes help to progress the 3 protagonists, which I found interesting, and liked several aspects of the ending that had character evolution.
Some dialogue cultural references - and slang - were lost on me, so am sure that some jokes flew away with these references, but overall, the story was better than I expected from its setting in the 1970's.
Characters aren't glossy, they look real, and so is the depiction of racism, dysfunctional families, lack of communication and affection ; difficulties being a man (especially in regards to expression of emotions), or an emancipated woman. Yet, this movie addresses each of the topics with social commentary, with realism and yet non graphic way.
As a dramedy, it's not a slapstick comedy, with "rye humour" from which I understood parts - more than the drier humour in Gervais' show the office, which I tried to watch with my wife, but couldn't follow or care. Here, however, people elicit an emotional reaction.
Apart for a couple songs, especially Led Zeppelin's rain song which I did like, I didn't like the rest - but I don't tend to like music from that period anyways.
Cinematography's most indoors, editing and pace is alright, though there was this weird choice in one song that irked me.
Being set in 1973, I read on IMDb that there are a few historical goofs, but overall funny, though crude and rude at most turns, and the slang was tough for me to follow, even with subtitles on, but with a satisfactory ending, despite a predictable aspect.
Cast :
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