By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Ben Wheatley
Starring: David Schaal | Julia Deakin | Kerry Peacock | Robert Hill | Robin Hill | Tony Way
Country: united_kingdom
Year: 2010
Running time: 89
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1489167/
Jason says: “A lot of gangster movies want you to know that they aren’t just about crime, but about family. You can’t miss it, they’re so formal and insistent that it becomes overbearing. DOWN TERRACE, while it has other flaws, manages to present us with a family that are also a group of criminals, and makes the situation work.
“Bill (Robert Hill) sells drugs in a mid-sized English city; he’s been doing so for over forty years now and doesn’t appreciate that he’s just had to spend a few days in court because of it. He figures it was probably Garvey (Tony Way), the manager of his club, who sold him out, so he and his son Karl (Robin Hill) are going to take care of it. The thing is, Bill is really much more interested in drugs than enforcement, and the muscle he brings in, Pringle (Michael Smiley), is distracted by his kid. Speaking of kids, Karl’s ex-girlfriend Valda (Kerry Peacock) has just shown up and announced she’s pregnant. Bill’s wife Maggie (Julia Deakin) just wants all this drama out of her house.
“There have been a ton of crime-family comedies, but I have a hard time recalling any that reflect the very ordinariness of family relationships as well as Down Terrace. Nobody lectures each other on what a family does; they just do it, for better or worse. Bill could run a brewery, and it wouldn’t change the characters’ relationships a great deal, other than the product they enjoy as they kick back in the evening. Every bit of the relationships between Bill, Karl, and Maggie rings true, from Karl’s combination of comfort and boredom as Bill repeats a story about the old days, to how Maggie has learned through long experience what her husband needs to do but can’t, to how Valda is just not going to ingratiate herself quickly at all (which naturally leads to some nasty arguments).
“Of course, they aren’t just another family; their family business is criminal, which leads to murder and betrayal. The way the film plays the extremes is frequently hilarious – one extended sequence has a killing seemingly stymied by the characters being unwilling to break through a door; a later bit is murder as broad slapstick. As the film goes on, the paranoia takes up more of the film’s time, and while it’s still primarily driven by family issues, but outside factors start to have more of an effect; when a representative of the larger outfit in London shows up, one starts to get the feeling that the filmmakers are making things more complicated than need be.
“(Another sign that things are starting to drag is when it starts to repeat title cards. DOWN TERRACE uses days as chapters, starting with ‘Monday,’ and as a rule of thumb, once you start recycling them, the story starts to feel much longer than it actually is. Seeing a second ‘Monday’ indicates coming full circle; a second ‘Tuesday’ makes you wonder just how long this is going to get dragged out!)
“The cast is uniformly good. I kind of love Robert Hill as father Bill; he’s the very model of a hippie who has gotten old, cranky, and suburban without realizing it. He’s not wistful when he thinks or talks about the past, because in his mind he’s still that guy, even if he’ll be reaming his son out as a disappointment later in the scene. Still, he isn’t quite as abrasive as Julia Deakin’s Maggie, a bitter woman who displays a fantastically limited world-view but an utter ruthlessness within it. Robin Hill captures Karl marvelously: Potentially smart, but lazy, thinking he’s suffered more than he actually has, but not plaing up obvious mannerisms. His tantrums are pathetic and humorous for it, although just disturbing enough that they’re not entirely comedic. Kerry Peacock does a good job of emphasizing how Valda serves two purposes for the audience, as the outsider who is a bit of a straight woman in the odd situation and as the interloper whom Bill and Maggie find threatening.
“Co-writer/director Ben Wheatley is working on what appears to be a very limited budget, but when you’ve got such a good cast you don’t need very much else Although the film has a few pacing issues, it manages to create an atmosphere which makes most other crime family movies, whether they be comedic or dramatic, feel stilted and awkward. 4 cats
“Seen 23 April 2010 at the Somerville Theater #? (Independent Film Festival of Boston)”
Beth Caldwell says: “Great film. Probably my favorite film at IFFBoston 2010. I like that the film draws the viewer into the characters’ complicated issues in such a slow methodical manner. The film starts out as any typical indy drama about friends and family who know each other and have a few issues bubbling under the surface. By the time the tension begins to erupt in the film, the viewer is already completely sucked in to the plot. Very well done. Excellent performances by all actors in the film. Perhaps worth considering for ensemble cast. 5 cats”