Its not that bad

[salvador]

I thought it was alright. It was a nice little tale.

Do you think it wasnt taken well cos of the fact there is no REAL sinister aspects init. e.g. Morell From ARFRB or DMS? Or is it the "Stars" involved?

I heard on the DMS commentary that Shane was going to retire cos of this film, was it really that bad at the time? (sorry became a Meadows Maniac just before DMS came out, so no real clue of the historical context of this OUATIM)

[Dazza]

Yeah I thought the film was good in its own right, ok its not a ARFRB or DMS they were two of the best films I ever saw but OUATIM is good enough in its own right, its much better than half the shite out there and Rhys Ifans was good as Dex and the other actors did a good job. I just think the problem with the film could have been that nothing MAJOR happend like it did in the two films I mention just now.

[wheatabeat]

I thought Rhys Ifans was magnificent as Dex, and probably only Paddy could have played the sap-like character better. Shirley Henderson was also cast well too but I think the meaty casting had a bit of an adverse effect on the film. Robert Carlyle looked far too mis-placed and Kathy Burke/Ricky Tomlinson's characters should have been played by Midlands actors/actresses.

It has Shane's trademark humour running right through it, but the people who the film was targetted at were mostly your belly-laugh-a-minute mob seemingly, hence the poor reviews and reception.

Still, it's a million times better than that horrible Ant n Dec thing this year, or anything that Hugh Grant's been in. I quite enjoyed it, and it was good to see Shane "put it right" so to speak by sticking to his roots for DMS.

[dag]

The first time i watched OUATITM i wasn't too sure about it, as a Shane Meadows film i mean, in it's own right it's a good film. Like a lot of viewers i thought there was too many 'big names' in it, and they didn't really bring that much to the party either. There was Ricky Tomlinson being typical 'Ricky Tomlinson' the same goes for Kathy Burke and the whole thing just didn't gel too well for me. But then i watched it again about 18 months later and i enjoyed it a lot more 2nd time around i have to say. I don't know whether it's because i've started to watch dvd's with the headphones on, thus picking up a lot more of the dialogue, because Shirley Henderson does tend to mumble a bit! So while it'll never be my fave 'Meadows' film, i do have a lot more respect for it now

[Dave]

Hey Dag! You just reminded me about watching DVDs with headphones. It's a top quality experience and in my opinion beats all that surround-sound toss.
Best experience of headphone use for a DVD for me was watching that Japanese horror called The Eye (or is just Eye?). It multiplied the scares by a factor of 10 I'd say!

[Hyde]

I the same thing with the cannibal holocaust because I didnt want anyone in the house to hear it.

I bet its awesome watching a film like that with headphones in. I think I'm gonna pick up The original The Grudge and do that.

[RydCook]

"I thought Rhys Ifans was magnificent as Dex, and probably only Paddy could have played the sap-like character better. Shirley Henderson was also cast well too but I think the meaty casting had a bit of an adverse effect on the film. Robert Carlyle looked far too mis-placed and Kathy Burke/Ricky Tomlinson's characters should have been played by Midlands actors/actresses."

i comletely agree with this. Rhys Ifans was the best i've ever seen him! But of course, i do beleive paddy could have played it better.

Robert Carlyle had to have been the worst cast, and the worst acting in the film.

still, as everyone else has said, a lot better than most british films that come out these days.

[Companero]

As I've said a few times before, I really rate Once Upon A Time In The Midlands - yes, it pales in comparison to Shane's other films but it's still a wonderful movie.

I wait patiently for more info regarding Shane's proposed re-edit of the flick.

[mackem1]

I watched it for the first time last night and enjoyed it. It doesn't have the startling factor of Shane's other films, but like many of you have said - its still better than most stuff out there.

In my opinion though, it just didn't seem like a Shane film. Probably down to the cast, I thought that some of the big names were coasting really, although I agree with ryd22 that Ifans is very good.

[salvador]

Its on Film 4 this week!

[jtrodreigez]

when Sal when i still haven't seen it yet. I know i can look in the paper and i will but when when is it on??

I still dont know why i haven't seen it as i am a fan from the very first.

[curls1999]

This film is certainly the black sheep of the Meadows offspring isn't it? As a stand alone film it certainly isn't half bad, as other posters have commented. However, don't go into this expecting a Shane Meadows film as you have come to know and love them, because you will inevitably face dissapointment. Watch it as a British comedy, plain and simple, with no preconceptions, (if that's possible,) and you might be pleasently surprised.

My own oppinion? Well, it's the only one of Shane's films that I don't watch again and again. Probably because it's only a Shane film by name really. Paddy was right to walk out, although he probably would have given the film a feel that I think it is missing (no offence to Rhys Ifans, who was in all honesty one of the films redeeming features). The big names in general detracted from the realism and down to earth feel that you get from Shane's other films. As someone somewhere else said, "It doesn't feel officially Meadows".

[Gareth]

I got alot more enjoyment from Shanes World on the DVD extras and I'll watch that alot more than the feature but to be fair it wasnt as bad as I expected, I noticed from early in, the crane shots said it all, it didnt feel as close to the characters as with the other films, their were too many characters

I dont have the link to this interview so sorry for posting it all but I think it about sums my problems with midlands up;

Where do you think the realist tendency in British filmmaking comes from?
"If you look at American telly and at American people when they talking on f*cking shows, there's no humility. It's a film no matter where they are or where they're talking. The President's in a movie: when he talks it's got to have a beginning, middle and an end. The whole thing is just one big f*cking farce. This country, because of our reserve, we do, I think, like looking at the reality of ourselves and telling stories about ourselves.

"America, I have actually begun to believe, canned laughter, that whole thing, the only decent thing I've ever seen in the last five years that I can remember is 'The Sopranos'. I thought that was fantastic but even that was a sub-culture, it wasn't the American. I think all the shows that have come out of America, the whole thing is just like a movie culture and their movies reflect the fact that they don't want to look at themselves in real terms. Some films do, but they don't have a general appeal.

"Some people here make the Action-y style thing, but in general we're looking at ourselves and people still seem to be interested in it. It was there in the Ealing films, and then in the Sixties and Seventies it was far more realistic with the kitchen sink style, and through the Eighties it was your sub-cultures, like your Asian families in My Beautiful Laundrette, all the sort of Scala and Palace films. Now, in the Nineties, you have the fact that they can look good but they also feel real as well. It's always a case of looking back on ourselves, and that's kind of what I'm up to as well. I'm looking at myself and I'm looking at the people around me.

"Whereas Americans work in genres a lot, I don't see myself doing that. I can't classify TwentyFourseven. I can't classify Romeo Brass. They are stories from the heart. I think you get a lot more people in Britain who make that kind of work."

[Chewbaxter]

wheatabeat said:

Robert Carlyle looked far too mis-placed

Yep, for me he's the only 'downer' in the film... he just looks like a man who's just not 'joining in'... the other actors seem to give 100% and he kind of shuffles along looking embarrassed... don't get me wrong, he's done some belting parts, but this weren't one of them!

Rhys I. s a belter though, the 'sad' moments nicely in balance with the 'comic' stuff - a truly versatile actor.

I have to say I quite like this film... apart from the 'Western'/'Love Triangle' type of thing, this reminds me very much of the kind of stuff Mike Leigh does... an 'urban tale' with one or two twists, but generally mirroring real life.

Pity to see it was deleted, but I can't moan... I was lucky enough to get mine off eBay a while back under a tenner - worth that alone for the 2nd disc full of extras.



N.

[Lord Thribb of Hubris OBE]

I like the film, it's different from Shane's other films but that doesn't make it bad.
What I regret is not watching the bandstand scenes being shot just 100 yds from my house in Victoria Park!
So close and yet so..............
Ah well, I did get to see scenes from "Playing The Field" being made.

Paul