Review of Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002) by Matthew I — 11 Feb 2006

Best in Show: Kathy Burke (come back to acting - it needs you!).

One for the future: Kathy Burke.

Stand-out scene: Car vs. baseball bat.

Brainer or no-brainer: Brainer.

Stands up to one viewing or repeated?: Repeated.

DVD commentary any good?: n/a.

DVD.

As both a fan of the work of Shane Meadows and a Midlander (but West not East) this appealed, even if the director himself has denounced this film as below his best. It's also sad to note that it was her experience of filming this movie that caused Kathy Burke to hang up her acting spurs in favour of a behind the camera role - a great loss to British acting, but I suppose a great gain for British directing. Everything seemed to be in place for a terrific movie; Meadows behind the camera; a cast including Burke, Robert Carlyle, Rhys Ifans, Shirley Henderson and Ricky Tomlinson and a script penned by Meadows himself in conjunction with his long-time collaborator Paul Fraser. While this is by no means a complete wash-out it has to be said that when all is said and done it doesn't quite hit the mark. The story itself, I feel, is not as resonant as Meadows' other works (those i've seen, that is) and when it comes down to it has a pretty run-of-the-mill love triangle at its heart. The bigger budget and fairly high profile cast seem not to suit Meadows' style, and with only Henderson attempting the Nottingham accent this doesn't make the best use of its setting. Carlyle is jailbird Scot Jimmy who awakes one day to find his former girlfriend (and mother of his daughter) on Vanessa's talkshow, turning down an proposal of marriage from her new paramour (Rhys Ifans). After an incident with two clowns (Vic and Bob) he travels south with a holdall full of money in pursuit of his lost love (Shirley Henderson). With a shell-suited Kathy Burke and country and western music loving Ricky Tomlinson as near neighbours, the on paper quality of the movie is assured. A missed opportunity.