The Angels' Share (2012)

Robbie, a young man on a community payback scheme trying to turn his life around for the sake of his newborn son, comes up with a plan to give him a financial head start. He recruits his fellow offenders to his caper.

The Glasgow-set collaborations of Ken Loach and Paul Laverty always sit somewhere on a spectrum that runs between socialist realist politics and crowd-pleasing mischief. This outing sits more towards the crowd-pleasing end. As such, the young protagonist's underclass credentials are evidenced merely by his scars, tracksuit and chest-puffing in the face of his adversaries. His partner only ever speaks to him about pulling up his socks for their child; stilted, clunky exchanges that supply information and do nothing for characterisation. The young woman's thuggish family are cardboard cut-out neds who speak in clichés. So, characterisation is simplistic and dialogue always pure exposition. However, anyone looking for some pay off in the plot will be sorely disappointed. It is pretty obvious from the beginning how things will play out, with the exception of one genuinely surprising, and humanistic, twist. At one point Robbie is being chased by bad guys when his father-in-law incredulously appears like Batman in his Nedmobile to rescue him, before snarling more ned clichés at him.

Paul Brannigan as Robbie has a certain look and charisma, but he can't act. The young actor's story, in many respects paralleling the character he plays, is touching, and perhaps Loach and Laverty are using cinema to smuggle in some kind of social rehabilitation programme for worthy but underprivileged young men. But one part of me wishes they'd use real actors, or at least send their discoveries to acting school before filming starts.

As someone who grew up in inner-city Glasgow I always feel I *should* like these Loach/Laverty films, and wonder if my conflicted emotions come from the part of me that is Glasgow. But 'The Angel's Share' has made up my mind for me - these films are just below-par cinema. I get that the script is meant to be a fable, but not one line of dialogue stayed with me, or resonated to a deeper place. The characters, like those in 'My Name is Joe', are all meant to be lovable rapscallions, but the visceral violence that can be a very real event in Glasgow is not represented here, and the truly pitiful aspects of these young men's pathetic and self-destructive delusions about 'masculinity' require a complexity of portrayal that seems beyond these filmmakers. There is a psychology and dialectic at work that defies easy ideological explanation, but that ease is all Loach and Laverty ever reach for. Loach's so-called naturalistic directing is simply workmanlike camera-work that fails to add shade or depth to character. I can't think of one shot in this film that struck me as cinematic.

I applaud the good intentions of Loach and Laverty, but their execution is sorely lacking. I think the praise they garner comes more from the middle class guilt of broadsheet critics, and the desperate relief of disenfranchised Glaswegians at ANY attempt at all to portray their lives on screen. Wooden acting, under-realised framing, and a flat, under-developed script - apart from a few chuckles at comments by dim-witted characters, what exactly is there to like here? What is this film doing that was not done by Bill Forsyth 30 years ago, only ten times better? These filmmakers need to be judged by the same standards that apply to the likes of Kevin Ma

Fmovies: The first part of this film was to me something that had never been seen before in cinema. We were drawn into the violent world of the Glasgow street thug. We saw the drugs, the mindless violence, the broken lives of the victims and the perpetrators. We saw the destitution of the young people in the worst parts of the city, those without any hope of a future, whose only recourse was to a life of drugs and crime. We saw that a self-centred, uncaring society itself had played a large part in forming these young people and had them under its heel, where there was no escape. We saw the young thug facing his victim and his family in some sort of meeting, as he recounted the terrible frenzied attack where he thought he was going to die. We saw the effect it had on the victim's family. And most touchingly we saw the deep remorse on the thug's face as the victim's mother remonstrated with him about the heartbreak he had created in a moment of madness, and he thought about his own newborn son. And we looked at the broken lives on both sides of the table. I wouldn't have thought it possible to be so moved to compassion over a hood's life until I saw this film. Then there was the friendship and help offered to him by strangers as he tries to reform now he is a father. It would have been wonderful to see this life lifting itself out of the morass of crime and violence into a world of decency. It can and does happen, and what a wonderful heartwarming tale this would have been if that had been the destination of the movie. Such an idea should not be seen as a fairy tale and discarded in favour of 'realism'. We could have seen redemption (it does say it's there on the jacket), we could have seen reconciliation, we could have seen hope. To me the film slipped steadily after the opening scenes and the consummation of the story seems to be 'crime can pay - just be enterprising'. Or 'just one more heist, and then we're through'. Really? The screenplay, acting and direction were brilliant.

Having enjoyed Ken Loach's last film, Looking For Eric, I suddenly discovered he had a new movie out. So off to the theater I went. The movie starts off with a quick introduction to sociology while sentencing the protagonist, Robbie, to a few hundred hours of community service. Social issues is a recurring theme of the movie as it delves into the reasons of why people get themselves into a bad place, which again stems from a bad environment (which is literally spelled out). Ken Loach uses the same approach as in Looking For Eric, and many of the same plot elements are present as Robbie and his cohorts hatch out a devious plan to deal with their situation. Most familiar is the protagonist's struggle to set himself straight, but also in how he is trying to protect and salvage his family. Angel's Share starts off like a good movie; we get to know the characters, there's an involving plot, and overall I was starting to like it. I found it easy to sympathize with the main character, despite his conflicted personality.

But then the movie starts to falter. The plot with the whiskey distillery falls short as the director takes the film in a most peculiar direction. I started to realize that I liked none of the supporting characters, which are only mildly interesting due to the fact that they almost have no character and bring nothing interesting to the film (except a few good laughs). By the end I was just waiting for something to happen, and it didn't. The plot resolves itself in the most uninteresting manner and the jokes have long lost their steam and the film was simply running on an empty tank. To his credit, Ken Loach does deserve some praise for trying to make a relatable feel-good movie.

The Angels' Share fmovies. The Angels' Share is the first Ken Loach film I have ever seen, and I really liked it. I heard a lot about Ken Loach films before I saw The Angels' Share but I never had time to see one. I must say he is a talented director. I was impressed by the choice of actors, which is very judicious. I would compliment all the actors and I would reserve a special mention for Paul Brannigan, the main character. The acting is so realistic that the film seems like a real documentary about Scots'lives. The characters are friendly, and endearing. We can see a lot of beautiful Scottish landscapes during the whole film, and this is really pleasant. Ken Loach made an original storyline, and his film allows everybody to have a great time. It is a sweet comedy, hilarious sometimes, but mainly poignant. The film speaks with heart, humor and lightness about the social realism of delinquents. It shows that everyone deserves a second chance in life, even if it is very hard to get out of a situation you were born in. Ken Loach knows how to put a strong message in simple words. The Angels' Share is a good film, which is food for though. I was interested in watching it thanks to his participation at the Cannes Film Festival, and I was not disappointed by any aspect of the film. If I were you, I would go quickly to the cinema to see it. I would recommend it to anyone.

'The Angels Share' is the latest film by Ken Loach about living on the rough side of Glasgow, Scotland and trying to cope with your past. It's a delightful little film that's really funny as well as portraying a lot of dark aspects about modern Scottish lifestyles.

The acting is surprisingly great; there are no real known actors in this besides John Henshaw who was fantastic despite not having a lot of screen-time. New-comers like Paul Brannigan are excellent and really carry this film. The performances of those main four characters are all done well, particularly Gary Maitland.

The script is quite interesting and has a great Scottish theme to it. The dialogue is fantastic, the conversations in this film seem so real and the colloquialisms provide so much humour for Scottish audiences. There have been few Scottish films lately that seem like a real Scottish film. The film also discusses a lot of other important issues i.e. alcoholism, drug abuse, poverty, violence and gang culture. It paints a picture of some people's lives in Glasgow.

Overall, this is a feel-good film which does discuss a lot of important, dark Scottish issues. It also has some great comedy included and fantastic dialogue making this film one of the best British films of 2012.

Another terrific film from the master of the kitchen sink, Ken Loach. Like all of Loach's films, Angels' Share takes a look at the judicial system and how the mistreatment of criminals effects their lives. In the case of Robbie, our protagonist, the poor decision by the courts – coupled with his girlfriend and their newborn baby – has a profound effect on his life as he begins to put his juvenile past behind him… that is until his community service officer instills a newfound interest in whiskey. These events lead up to a pivotal heist scene that plays out like something from the French new wave with a hint of British. Loach's direction has definitely adapted with the times but his adaptation of long-time collaborator Paul Laverty's screenplay is as poignant as it always is when the two collaborate. Undeniably better than last year's Route Irish – which was a very rare look into the Iraq war – and definitely worth the watch.

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