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Twenty Four Seven [1998]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Gritty British social realism gets the Rocky treatment as a group of working-class no-hopers in rundown 1980s Nottingham learn the value of discipline and commitment through the art of boxing. Bob Hoskins is hugely sympathetic as Alan Darcy, the tough-love coach who drags two opposing gangs of miscreants off the streets and into the gym. Although Darcy hopes to offer his boys more than their usual existence of "taking shit twenty four seven" (i.e. all the time), his plans are soon thwarted by one physically abusive father, a drug-addicted boxer, and interference from the gym's crooked underwriter Ronnie Marsh (Frank Harper).

The feature debut from acclaimed short-film director Shane Meadows, Twenty Four Seven is a good-looking smartly paced parable that skirts around its larger social issues in favour of knockabout humour and neat narrative resolution. Kitchen-sink realism comes courtesy of the silvery black-and-white film stock shot by cinematographer Ashley Rowe, while the relentlessly upbeat mood is aided and abetted by soundtrack tunes from The Charlatans, Paul Weller, Tim Buckley and others. As mentioned, Hoskins does a sterling job as the gentle giant hiding a cauldron of suppressed rage, yet the junior players often blend into an interchangeable amalgam of spunky but anonymous youth. Elsewhere there's some skewed logic in the script (the boys agree to try boxing after missing penalty shoot-outs with Darcy), and some wasted scenes (a trip to Wales becomes an extended musical montage-"and cue Charlatans!"), but generally Meadows has kept his tale engagingly intimate and small-scale. If anything, this leaves you with the feeling this rising director has bitten off only a fraction of what you suspect his talents can chew. --Kevin Maher

Editorial
Special Features

1.85 Wide Screen
16:9 Wide Screen
DVD 5
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo English
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Director And Writer Commentary
Original Theatrical Trailer
Three Tears For Jimmy Prophet
Scene Access
Interactive Menus

Editorial
Synopsis

From the poverty and despair of an English industrial town, one man with a dream (Bob Hoskins) forms a boxing club to give troubled teenagers a fighting chance. The lads learn lessons of self-respect and male bonding, but amidst the triumph of the biggest tournament of their lives, tragedy strikes. Shane Meadows' debut features gritty black-and-white cinematography that perfectly captures the desolation of working-class life in post-Thatcher Britain.

I never knew Bob Hoskins could act!!
Review date: 2008-03-03 Rating: 10 out of 10

OK, to be fair, I can't think of many films I've seen him in, and he was actually pretty good in Mrs Henderson Presents, but he really surprised me in this film.

I was half expecting him to make it a bit naff, despite having loved Shane Meadows' other films, but no, it was right up there with the rest, and he did a really excellent job. I'd not really have imagined him playing such a dark and gritty role, but he did so excellently.

Bob aside, everyone else in the film was great too, and the filming and story were excellent.

A really great, moving, film.

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Reviews


4/10. Prototype Meadows
Review date: 2008-02-01 Rating: 4 out of 10

Shane Meadows's first movie set the template for his more accomplished later work. Bob Hoskins excepting, Twenty Four Seven features a cast of largely non-professional actors, a liberal use of improvisation and a typically tragic-comic approach to realist drama. Set mostly in and around the working class midlands, Meadows' films draws comparisons with exponents of the kitchen sink dramas of the British New Wave. But while Meadows belongs to a similar tradition to Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, he is also arguably closer to his subjects, having the empirical eye of a man who has lived the life firsthand.

As someone who viewed Meadows's later work first however, none of these factors stop Twenty Four Seven seeming really quite amateurish. While it is lovingly photographed in black and white by cinematographer Ashley Rowe, it is Meadows's least accomplished work in terms of plot and character development. I was quite surprised by how weak this film was given that it made the directors' name and became the launchpad for his career. There's simply not enough depth to the characters to be moved by the consequences of their actions. Furthermore, Meadows' use of a comtemporary indie soundtrack - another hallmark of his filmmaking - has never been lazier than here. A whole sequence of the film, dedicated to the supposed bonding of the key characters in the film on a trip to Wales, is a perfunctary montage of lame visual jokes set to The Charlatans. Very poor indeed.

Opinions on the film
Review date: 2007-10-18 Rating: 8 out of 10

Everyone else has given a very good description of the content, so I will just explain what I thought.

I saw this film when there was nothing else on TV, I wasn't expecting much from a black and white debut film and only really wanted to see it to pass time and because I am a casual fan of boxing and Bob Hoskins. I was very glad I saw this film and bought it at my first opertunity.

People have said in many of reviews how sad this film is, they are wrong. I thought this was the most upbeat film I have ever seen, with nothing but positivity and a nice, witty story of people prevailing from what they were given to be as much as they could. The message seemed very positive, everything was happy; whenever you saw something considered a tragedy, the film focuses rather on how helpful Bob's character is to them/how much he loves them and how much he wants his club o work for the good of its users. Which is why the ending is so amazing and completely unexpected. It is something that if explained won't work, because it needs the whole film to work. The sudden tragedy is beatifully juxtaposed to the strong positive theme and works to show how much Bob's character put into his great plan and how determined he was to give these people a brighter future. He is a great character that you truly wish to succeed.
Rocky this is not.

And as for the black and white; well it is most likely to be due to cost. But I think it works to show the background/area as being gray and gritty, so the story is about trying to leave the black & white and have a 'brighter' and 'more colourful' future.

I only gave this four stars because I think 5 stars should be reserved for the VERY best of the best, and although I love this film and highly reccomend you buy it; it isn't up to the standards of some other films.

Lyrical
Review date: 2007-09-16 Rating: 8 out of 10

After the short 'Where's The Money, Ronnie?' and the not-so-short 'Small Time', Lord Shane Meadows of Eldon's first feature film is this snappy black-and-white urban drama. Darcy (Bob Hoskins) is sick of seeing the local youths at each other's throats, so forms a boxing club to bring them together. It is a laudable plan; something to offer control and direction to a disaffected generation.

Meadows' greatest talent is in presenting a truthful working class landscape sympathetically, but without being patronising. Our heroes are disadvantaged, often stricken by a fearsome domestic environment (none more so than Danny Nussbaum's Tim); and yet they are also kind, witty, hungry, and joyful. The scenes in which Darcy brings the boys to Wales, with Ashley Rowe's sumptuous cinematography and Hoskin's lyrical voiceover, are so vibrant it's as if they're filmed in colour. It's quite something to find drama in scenes of great happiness, when the conflict is left at home - but Meadows always seems to find it, and that's what makes his films vital and real.

So moving - it literally makes grown men cry...
Review date: 2007-07-21 Rating: 10 out of 10

It took me ages to get round to seeing this film, even though I was living in Nottingham at the time it was filmed & released (indeed, I recognised the actor playing Fagash from his time working at the Broadway Cinema bar).

A lot of reviews are misleading and off-putting. Yes, it's about Bob Hoskins setting up a boxing club to give some inner-city kids some hope - that sounds trite and in the wrong hands it would be. What makes this film special is the real depth the actors bring to their characters and the lack of over-sentimentality, punctuated with wit.

It's so poignant, Bob Hoskins can portray so many emotions at the same time.

It really is one of the best British films ever made, along with the other Shane Meadows films. Gritty, sad, poetic and funny - definitely recommended.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Bruce Jones
Danny Nussbaum
Annette Badland
Frank Harper
Bob Hoskins

Creators:
Bob Hoskins (Primary Contributor)
Bruce Jones (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Pathe Distribution
Manufacturer: Pathe Distribution
EAN: 5060002831434
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Black & White, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2003-06-30
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 92 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1997
Language: English (Original Language)

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