Writer-director-producer Rumley brings a thoroughly enjoyable vibe to this sprawling ensemble movie, set on one night in an early-1990s London disco. It's the kind of place everyone wants to get in, but no one's quite sure why. The film follows more than 30 characters, including the couple (Gorton and McKenzie) who has just broken up and is trying to prove they're so over it; their patient best friends (Ainsleigh and Steele); the nerdy goofball (Nussbaum); the posh boys (Connolly and Halstead) trying to play with the big kids; the party girls (Pike and Emery); and so on. We also get involved in the lives of the staff, including the thoughtless manager (Harper), stern doorman (Maudsley) and cranky barmaid (Badland).
Fortunately, Rumley seems to delight in subverting stereotypes, so just when we figure out each character he throws a twist in, revealing a previously unseen side to their personalities. This keeps things quite lively and often very funny, and makes the film feel rather more substantial than an 80-minute night at the disco. Most of the plotlines are very silly (Oakes and Handy as a couple obsessed by and terrified of piercing; Gorton and Ainsleigh's gay subtext; a trio of lost transvestites), while others actually have a bite to them, and the central romance is really rather endearing. There's nothing terribly new here--it's just a bright, funny little film. But it's so nicely observed that you can't help but enjoy it.
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adult themes and situations, language, drugs, violence | 2.Sep.02 |
with Brad Gorton, Allison McKenzie, Dawn Steele, Daniel Ainsleigh, Danny Nussbaum, Frank Harper, Annette Badland, Tony Maudsley, Tom Connolly, Tom Halstead, Emma Pike, Tania Emery, Lee Oakes, Emma Handy, Wendy Wason, Emil Marwa
release UK 11.Oct.02
02/UK 1h20
On the rocks. Ali and Mike (McKenzie and Gorton) are so desperately trying to hurt each other that they don't realise how much they're still in love...
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