A fantastic, and very British, drama
"When Tom Proctor's dad dies, his world falls apart; his brother joins the army, his mum is threatened with eviction and Tom faces criminal prosecution after spreading manure over the local bank. All this changes however when Tom meets park ranger Al Thorpe in this inspiring story of two individuals overcoming adversity and finding true friendship."The film is beautifully shot, and the landscapes alone are well worth 96 minutes of your time (Dan Mackie has won several awards for his cinematography in 'Lad').
The story tugs on the heartstrings in all the right places - you'll laugh, you'll cry, and above all you'll find the characters utterly compelling and believable. There's some wonderful comedic moments to counterpoint the emotional challenges facing the Tom and his mum, and Al's grand-daughter makes a very welcome appearance (certainly as far as Tom's concerned).
As a first time film-maker Dan Hartley does a brilliant job and the cast are both believable and engaging throughout, avoiding the trap of overplaying their roles. The film has won numerous awards at film festivals across the world and justifiably so.
I'm only sad that the film didn't find a mainstream distributor to get it into more cinemas.
score 10/10
mw-clarkson 21 November 2014
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3128452/34833
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