Review of Twin Town (1997) by Gareth J — 24 Mar 2011

Produced by Danny Boyle and Andrew MacDonald, straight off their successes with Shallow Grave (1994) and Trainspotting (1996), and written and directed by Kevin Allen, (brother of Keith, who has a cameo.

) This is a very fast, furious and funny crime comedy which may not show Wales in a good light, but it's great entertainment. Set in Swansea, it has the Lewis Twins, Julian (Llyr Evans) and Jerome (Rhys Ifans), though they're not really twins but brothers, who are glue-sniffing, cannibis smoking car theives, who live with their family who live off dole money, and live in a series of caravans.

Their father Fatty (Huw Ceredig) falls from a ladder while doing roofing worked, cash in hand, for corrupt local businessman Bryn Cartwright (William Thomas). When Bryn refuses to pay compensation for the accident, the twins humiliate Bryn's daughter Bonnie (Jenny Evans), by peeing on her during a karaoke.

So, Bryn calls in bent copper Terry Walsh (Dougray Scott), to sort them out, but twins get revenge by killing the Cartwright's dog, and the tit-for-tat continues, until it ends in tragedy and vengeance.

For a debut feature, it's very well made, and despite the shoestring budget, it looks like it cost more. Evans and Ifans are very funny as the twins, and this helped put Dougray Scott on the road to greater things, oh and it has a cool soundtrack.