Scottish writer and former vocalist for the punk band the Skids, Richard Jobson makes his directorial debut with 16 Years of Alcohol, the stylized psychological drama based on his own semi-autobiographical novel. Through voice-over narration and various flashback methods, troubled young man Frankie Mac (Kevin McKidd) recalls his childhood (played by Iain De Caestaecker as a boy) growing up in working-class Edinburgh. In the '50s, his father (Lewis McCloud) was a hard-drinking good-timer and his
long-suffering mother (Lisa May Cooper) eventually gave up on the family. As a teenager in the '70s, the violent Frankie falls in with a street gang and tries to clean up to impress record store clerk Helen (Laura Fraser). After some fights with his old street thug enemy Miller (Stuart Sinclair Blyth), Frankie makes an another attempt to stop drinking at an AA meeting, where he meets Mary (Susan Lynch). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
Despite reams of maudlin narration, McKidd's powerful performance as a conflicted man makes this beautifully shot low-budget feature worth checking out.
The film has a poetic pulse, its ups and downs accompanied by some smartly chosen pop songs, a seductive original score and McKidd's husky voice-over narration.
Portentously narrated, "16 Years of Alcohol" is a thinly plotted movie about Frankie(Kevin McKidd), a young man who is part of a gang of four thugs who spend most of their waking hours roaming the streets and bars. Frankie is a one-dimensional character whose single distinctive quality is his explosive anger but no
particular cause is ever given for this.(He grew up in a dysfunctional home but the situation was not abusive.) No political or socio-economic factors are even mentioned. In the end, this movie just seems like an inferior knock-off of "A Clockwork Orange" which it references via a movie poster.
May 24, 2006
Walter M.
Super Reviewer
Wasn't too bad of a movie, though some parts were quite dull. I would have to say that it kind of pissed me off sometimes, but overall a decent watch.. pretty interesting as well.
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