A boy nips into his flat and borrows money out of his parent's drawers in order to go down to the arcades and play the fruit machines. Soon the money is all gone save for a solitary pound coin that he plans to buy in chips with. Unfortunately the chip shop has a fruit machine and, in the time it takes to fry chips, the pound is gone. Fleeing with the chips he finds his urge to play the machines making him rob and fight.
One of the three films made by the Knowle West youth team, this follows a similar path to Gear Head in that it looks at addiction and wasted lives in youth. I have never seen the attraction in those terrible machines, who's luck factor is programmed in and who's tunes are more horrid than ringtones but I can appreciate that people do get hooked on them. This film is interesting enough but never goes beyond the surface of the character skipping into theft and violence easily with no real tone or emotion to it; even the ending is downbeat but is delivered in a flat manner.
Ceejay is OK in the lead role (and stunts!) but he is never more than a Burberry wearing Chav in this film no character, nothing to empathise with and not a person I cared about in the film any more than I would in real life (ie not a great deal). The direction is OK, although the fruit machine is annoyingly overused. Interesting enough if you know the area but overall an average short film that shows how limited its budget was.
One of the three films made by the Knowle West youth team, this follows a similar path to Gear Head in that it looks at addiction and wasted lives in youth. I have never seen the attraction in those terrible machines, who's luck factor is programmed in and who's tunes are more horrid than ringtones but I can appreciate that people do get hooked on them. This film is interesting enough but never goes beyond the surface of the character skipping into theft and violence easily with no real tone or emotion to it; even the ending is downbeat but is delivered in a flat manner.
Ceejay is OK in the lead role (and stunts!) but he is never more than a Burberry wearing Chav in this film no character, nothing to empathise with and not a person I cared about in the film any more than I would in real life (ie not a great deal). The direction is OK, although the fruit machine is annoyingly overused. Interesting enough if you know the area but overall an average short film that shows how limited its budget was.