In late-1960s Northern Ireland, Terri Hooley (Dormer) is a local DJ who loves music and despises the turbulent politics and religion around him. His wife Ruth (Whittaker) feels the same, and continues to support him when his imagination is caught by the youthful rage of punk music. Soon he's helping promote local bands through his Good Vibrations record shop, discovering groups that go on to international stardom. But since he does all of this out of passion for the music, he forgets to make sure his business and marriage have solid foundations.

The film traces the discovery of Rudi, the Outcasts and, most famously, the Undertones and their mega-hit Teenage Kicks, which BBC legend John Peel notoriously played twice when he first heard it. Through all of this, filmmakers D'Sa and Leyburn focus closely on Hooley, letting a blinding array of larger-than-life supporting characters swirl around him. Even Whittaker gets this kind of treatment: despite the fact that Ruth should really be a lead character, we never quite get to know her.

Meanwhile, the filmmakers lovingly recreate the 1970s music scene, with wacky camerawork, groovy editing and colourfully scruffy production design. The pacey narrative leaps through the years, keeping the tone light while never forgetting the violent societal currents. And at the centre of the raucous gigs and angry music, Dormer gives a ripping performance as Hooley, a man who roots his life in humour and passion, regardless of the fallout.

This is a man who never cared about the financial goldmine he was sitting on, so those around him became wealthy while he struggled. This makes the film an important comment on the meaning of real success, reminding us that punk was about political expression, not music or fashion. So while it's chaotic and uneven, and almost impossible to keep up with, this is also a warm portrait of a man who changed the world through nothing but love for the music.

themes, language, violence, drugs

27.Sep.12 lff