Review by Doug Cooper
Stars Kyle Ward, Ian Hart, Charlene McKenna, Sasha Parkinson, Louise Delamere, Steve Evets, Lee Turnbull, Kevin Harvey, Chriossy Rock, Alan Stocks, Nick Moss, Emma Allonby
Written by Julie Rutterford
Certification UK 15
Runtime 80 minutes
Directed by Brian Percival
If only Robbie, the lead character in this drama, would've practiced safe sex. Surely he could've used a condom. If he had, his schoolmate Leanne, whom he shagged in a bus shelter, wouldn't have given birth to their son Elliott. Robbie, being all of 14 years of age, doesn't want anything to do with his offspring.
As played by Kyle Ward, he is a confident but confused and angry adolescent, at odds with his mother (Delamere), and secretly pining for his father (Hart) who walked out on him. He bumps into his dad by chance one day though, after almost being mown down by the elder's van, and the two strike up an awkward bond. Robbie starts to feel loved by his unpredictable and unreliable pa, and in turn starts to take more of an interest in his own son.
So far so good. For roughly the first 20 minutes this is a nicely acted tale that's touching and believable. Ward and Hart play off each other well and have good camaraderie together.
But when Robbie sees his baby son being carelessly treated by Leanne's violent new boyfriend, he shoots him and takes off with the infant on a cross country trek, avoiding the authorities and constantly hiding. The police try to track down his whereabouts and he holes up at a Welsh farm where shy young Nia (McKenna) takes pity on him. She has sexual problems of her own, having been abused by an uncle at the age of 11, and looks upon the lad as her saviour - she thinks that if she shags a nice boy like him it will get rid of the painful barrier she feels about sex. Robbie though is more concerned with his baby, especially as Nia's fierce father cannot be privy to his presence on the farm.
So credibility is somewhat jeopardised then once the boy goes on the run. One cannot be convinced that he can feasibly look after the tot, and once he meets the troubled girl, the tale takes an even more improbable turn. Furthermore, despite the brief running time, it's slow and meandering. This could've been a hot button issue, punchy and provocative, but it withers as it goes along and lacks any sense of pace or urgency.
Thankfully, the performances are sound. Ward is a promising young actor and eminently plausible as the kid who's way out of his depth. Hart, as usual, is excellent. He's a superb performer (see his outstanding turn as the frazzled paparazzi in TV's Dirt for example) and is ideal here at conjuring the character's irresponsibility and lack of faith and respect in himself. His emotional outburst at the end, if slightly incomprehensible, is still very powerful. But overall it's a disappointing effort, neither sharp nor involving enough. A lacklustre result despite the worthy intentions.