After over 40 years of making Lefty political films, it's not surprising that when Ken Loach makes a heist comedy it should have a constructive social edge to it.
A group of hapless Scottish thugs, thieves and all-round losers meet to do their community service time. One, Robbie (Paul Brannigan), gets the idea of tapping off some of a rare whiskey coming up for auction. From the million pound cask he sells a bottle for 100 grand and a job with a distiller. Robbie is newly driven to improve himself by the birth of a son and the introduction to fine whiskey that his public service supervisor gives him.
This is Loach's political point. The hapless on the lowest rung of the social ladder may well be as gifted as the toffs are. Robbie turns out to have a rare nose and palate for the spirits. This prompts him to the heist, which enables him to move his wife and infant away from her uncles who want to kill him and her father who tries to buy him off. The film's theme is the need to develop social mobility. As Robbie's wife cradles their perfect infant she says the child is half complete. The other half is for them to cultivate. www.yacowar.blogspot.com
A group of hapless Scottish thugs, thieves and all-round losers meet to do their community service time. One, Robbie (Paul Brannigan), gets the idea of tapping off some of a rare whiskey coming up for auction. From the million pound cask he sells a bottle for 100 grand and a job with a distiller. Robbie is newly driven to improve himself by the birth of a son and the introduction to fine whiskey that his public service supervisor gives him.
This is Loach's political point. The hapless on the lowest rung of the social ladder may well be as gifted as the toffs are. Robbie turns out to have a rare nose and palate for the spirits. This prompts him to the heist, which enables him to move his wife and infant away from her uncles who want to kill him and her father who tries to buy him off. The film's theme is the need to develop social mobility. As Robbie's wife cradles their perfect infant she says the child is half complete. The other half is for them to cultivate. www.yacowar.blogspot.com