WordsBy

Jack Jones

The Angels’ ShareKen Loach turns in yet another warming comedy, but one not without added bite.

After his 2009 comic caper Looking For Eric, Ken Loach is back for more laughs and gaffs withThe Angels’ Share. Both Looking For Eric and The Angels’ Share have a similar sentiment ofsecond chances and exhibit a lighter side thatLoach isn’t typically known for, particularly whenyou consider that Route Irish, an intense Iraq-inspiredthriller, was made inbetween.

Yet, some of Loach’s toughest and mostserious films have had moments of greatcomic panache. Loach’s most iconic film Kes, ostensibly known as an analysis ofsociety and its creaking problems, is awonderfully funny film. It seems now, laterin his career, Loach has flipped the script.Comic value comes first and the socialrealism is in the background. This is notto say that Loach has gone soft, as The Angels’ Share does have some biting moments, this just a lighter side than we’vebecome accustomed to.

When a rough and tumble young offenderpromises to turn his life around for the sakeof his newly born child, he is caught in theviolent surroundings of the Glasgow slums.But while on community service, Robbiefinds an interest in whisky tasting and comesacross a unique way of escaping his dead-end situation; a way out that could also sendhim back to prison.

Robbie’s time with Harry (John Henshaw), thecommunity service supervisor, gives him a purpose and guidance that he has clearly lacked. During the rehabilitation process, Harry takes Robbie and a group of fellowoffenders to a whisky distillery. Robbie then shows an ability to taste and smell rare whiskysthat leads him and three others to a ratherunique way of getting out of the slums.

Though the film’s plot jacknifes about betweenRobbie’s struggle against a rival Glasgow gangwho want him dead and the heist of a rarewhisky, the sight of this ramshackle groupof thiefs in kilts is a sight to behold. If Loachhas indeed decided to turn his hand at a more fantastical side of filmmaking, he’s done

“some of the humour is certainly Tuckeresque. Plainly though, there is far less eloquence andLoach certainly finds the voice and dialect of the Glasgow streets.”

so to superb results.

Scripted by long-time Loach collaboratorPaul Laverty, The Angels’ Share has somewonderfully poetic and similarly crude swearing.There is also something infectiously funny aboutexpansive swearing paired with a Scottish accent. There is an inevitable comparison tobe made with the character of MalcolmTucker from The Thick of It and In The Loop, assome of the humour is certainly Tuckeresque. Plainly though, there is far less eloquence andLoach certainly finds the voice and dialectof the Glasgow streets.

Loach also continues his work with untrainedactors and finds another convincing performerin Paul Brannigan. Bearing a brutal scare onhis cheek, Loach uses this as a symbol of howRobbie is seen as a social outcast; unwanted,distrusted, maligned. This general sense ofdisenfranchised youth is a core theme thatunderlines all the belly laughs and leaves somefood for thought. But Robbie’s circumstanceis also a result of some of his own wrongdoings.A tear away before becoming a father, Loachinserts a particularly brutal beating for which

Robbie is responsible and an even moreuncomfortable scene when Robbie isforced to meet the victim of his attack.Repentant and remorseful, the mother of hisvictim assumes Robbie feels nothing and thatRobbie is just a thug. Loach obviously sideswith the notion of forgiveness and secondchances. After all, this is Loach in upbeat form.

Far less stark and brutally downbeat thansome of Loach’s finest work, The Angels’ Shareis a fantasy and melancholic experience. Rather like the anti-heros from heist movies such as The Thomas Crown Affair and The ItalianJob, the audience sides with their warmthof character and Robbie certainly has thatsame quality. Street wise and with a quickmind, you’re not likely to pull a fast one onhim.

As something of a follow-up to Looking For Eric,if you found something to love there The Angels’ Share is for you.

The Angels’ Share is in cinemas 1 June