Sweet Sixteen

Genre: crime drama
Director: Ken Loach
Release: 2003
Studio: Diaphana Films, Alta Films, BBC Films, Lionsgate
Rating: R
MBiS score: 8.2/10


Keeping Busy While Mom Is Away


Unlike most Scottish teenagers, fifteen-year-old Liam (Martin Compston) already knows about the seedier side of life. His mother Jean (Michelle Coulter) has been taken away from him due to a narcotics violation and, for the time being, he is forced to share living quarters with his dour grandfather and a trafficker named Stan (Gary McCormack), the man responsible for Jean’s incarceration. But all is not lost and our young man is far from disheartened. In fact, he sees happiness ahead for his family and himself… and will spare no effort to make it happen. With Annmarie Fulton (Chantelle, Liam’s sister) and William Ruane (Pinball, his best friend).

Gritty, working-class struggles are a Ken Loach specialty and SWEET SIXTEEN exemplifies his penchant for small-scale, unvarnished dramas. The movie’s highlight is a tough, tight and rock-solid script about a young man raised in a complex criminal environment who becomes a splendid delinquent in his own right. To reach his goal of happiness – which is no doubt honourable – he will use whatever tools his background has equipped him with and take any stance that circumstances dictate. Drug trafficking permeates his view of the world, a world in which making enemies and settling scores are necessary steps toward a new future for himself and his loved ones.

For us movie fans, SWEET SIXTEEN translates into a fine cinematic experience. It boasts able acting, especially by Martin Compston as the resourceful Liam, expert direction and a powerful payoff. Though its subject matter is unremittingly serious, the movie is by no means a trudge and its dialogues peppered with obscenities add touches of levity to our young man’s determined quest. Other than that, I see no need to comment on Loach’s movie since its mastery is simply unassailable.

So be it. I emphatically recommend SWEET SIXTEEN to all movie buffs in blogland and elsewhere on the Net. I found it a compelling watch and so will you.


MBiS

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