Having enjoyed Ken Loach's last film, Looking For Eric, I suddenly discovered he had a new movie out. So off to the theater I went. The movie starts off with a quick introduction to sociology while sentencing the protagonist, Robbie, to a few hundred hours of community service. Social issues is a recurring theme of the movie as it delves into the reasons of why people get themselves into a bad place, which again stems from a bad environment (which is literally spelled out). Ken Loach uses the same approach as in Looking For Eric, and many of the same plot elements are present as Robbie and his cohorts hatch out a devious plan to deal with their situation. Most familiar is the protagonist's struggle to set himself straight, but also in how he is trying to protect and salvage his family. Angel's Share starts off like a good movie; we get to know the characters, there's an involving plot, and overall I was starting to like it. I found it easy to sympathize with the main character, despite his conflicted personality.
But then the movie starts to falter. The plot with the whiskey distillery falls short as the director takes the film in a most peculiar direction. I started to realize that I liked none of the supporting characters, which are only mildly interesting due to the fact that they almost have no character and bring nothing interesting to the film (except a few good laughs). By the end I was just waiting for something to happen, and it didn't. The plot resolves itself in the most uninteresting manner and the jokes have long lost their steam and the film was simply running on an empty tank. To his credit, Ken Loach does deserve some praise for trying to make a relatable feel-good movie.
But then the movie starts to falter. The plot with the whiskey distillery falls short as the director takes the film in a most peculiar direction. I started to realize that I liked none of the supporting characters, which are only mildly interesting due to the fact that they almost have no character and bring nothing interesting to the film (except a few good laughs). By the end I was just waiting for something to happen, and it didn't. The plot resolves itself in the most uninteresting manner and the jokes have long lost their steam and the film was simply running on an empty tank. To his credit, Ken Loach does deserve some praise for trying to make a relatable feel-good movie.