Review of Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002) by Noah R — 10 Jun 2009

Constrained by the pressures of working on a consciously mainstream film with a cast of well known English actors, Meadows only just delivers the goods here showing that he is most at home when working on his own terms.

The misjudged "Tinned Spaghetti Western" theme is limited to Morricone-styled music and very basic story elelments and doesn't bring much to the film, except for creating a comic and farcical mood which means the second halves turn to a more serious and poignant mood is a little undermined.

Having said this Meadows is still great at creating these working class characters, and gets terrific performances, notably from Shirley Henderson and Finn Atkins as the mother and daughter. It's no surprise Meadows has not returned to the mainstream as such, but this is still heaps better than many Brit drama films.