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This Is England

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This Is England (2007)

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Reviews Counted:84

Fresh:78

Rotten:6

Average Rating:7.7/10

Consensus: A moving coming-of-age tale that captures the despair among England's working-class youth in the 1980s.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Jul 25, 2007 Limited

Box Office: $95,849

Synopsis: Based on incidents from his own childhood, writer-director Shane Meadows's THIS IS ENGLAND is a stunning, brutal look at 1983 Britain, during the conservative Margaret Thatcher regime and the... Based on incidents from his own childhood, writer-director Shane Meadows's THIS IS ENGLAND is a stunning, brutal look at 1983 Britain, during the conservative Margaret Thatcher regime and the controversial Falklands War. Twelve-year-old Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) is a tough little kid who is street-smart beyond his years despite being short for his age. He falls in with a group of older boys, led by Woody (Joe Gilgun), who hang out at a local coffee shop, like to commit minor acts of anarchy, and adopt Shaun as one of their own--especially Smell (Rosamund Hanson), an overly made-up teenager who dresses like Boy George and develops a cute romantic interest in the complicated boy. But when skinhead Combo (SNATCH's Stephen Graham) gets out of jail, he returns to the gang, eager to take over the reins and lead them on a nationalistic battle to get rid of the immigrants who are stealing their jobs and to defend England to the death. Shaun, whose father died in the Falklands, must choose between staying with Woody and his friends or joining Combo on his violent quest to protect the homeland. Turgoose, in his acting debut, is an absolute revelation in the extremely demanding, challenging role of Shaun. Graham is excellent as Combo, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats, never knowing what he is going to do next, waiting for him to simply explode. Meadows (TWENTYFOURSEVEN, DEAD MAN'S SHOES) paces the film brilliantly, and uses a terrific soundtrack that ranges from Percy Sledge and Toots & the Maytals to UK Subs and Culture Club, from Dexy's Midnight Runners and Soft Cell to the Smiths and the Specials, capturing the uneasy times in Thatcherite England. Don't miss the beginning, which features a thrilling montage that sets the mood perfectly. [More]

Starring: Joe Gilgun, Stephen Graham, Frank Harper, Vicky McClure

Starring: Joe Gilgun, Stephen Graham, Frank Harper, Vicky McClure, Jack O'Connell, Kieran Hardcastle, Andrew Ellis, Andrew Shim, Thomas Turgoose

Director: Shane Meadows

Director: Shane Meadows
Screenwriter: Shane Meadows
Producer: Mark Herbert
Composer: Ludovico Einaudi
Studio: IFC Films

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Release:

Nov 13, 2007

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Reviews for This Is England

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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It is the war within him--and by extension, within the minds of many embittered, working class young men left behind in Thatcher's England--that Meadows's film most strikingly portrays.

Full Review Source: Reverse Shot | comment Comment
08/08/09
Leo Goldsmith
Leo Goldsmith
Reverse Shot
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
01/18/08
Joshua Rothkopf
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York

Steeped in the raw mix of ska and punk sound as expression of the youth alienation and misguided rage of those tumultuous times, an alarming voice of the surging army of jobless youth back then dubbed 'no hopers.'

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment 1 Comment
12/22/07
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze

Stephen Graham delivers a bravura performance as the brooding, mesmerizing Combo, clearly channeling Russell Crowe in Romper Stomper.

Full Review Source: Manhattan Movie Magazine | comment Comment
12/18/07
Marlow Stern
Marlow Stern
Manhattan Movie Magazine

Riveting.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
11/29/07
Jason Ferguson
Jason Ferguson
Orlando Weekly

Meadows obviously knows the working class neighborhoods that he depicts. There's a grit and honesty to his film as he chronicles the mundane details of these kids' lives.

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
11/15/07
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org

How sad and predictable is the fate of those who counsel violence as a means to an end. And yet how poignant it all seems when viewed through Shane Meadows' thoughtful lens.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
11/09/07
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An intelligent, spare, mean-streets sort of story, This Is England features superb performances...

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
11/09/07
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

You wouldn't think a film about a group of British skinheads during the early 1980s could be a sweet, nostalgic coming-of-age period piece, but that's the surprise of the authentic, fresh and utterly relevant This Is England.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
11/09/07
Jennie Punter
Jennie Punter
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Its tough but moving neo-realist approach make it one of the better British films of recent times.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
11/09/07
Richard James Havis
Richard James Havis
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This Is England grabs you by the scruff of the neck and yanks you into the Thatcher 1980s with brute force.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
09/27/07
Michele Kenner
Michele Kenner
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A post-punk gem of a drama that seems bent on being both funny and deadly serious.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/23/07
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

This is not the England that makes you want to hop on over for a visit, but the movie is worthy of a quick look.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment 3 Comments
09/23/07
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

[Meadows] captures the palpable anger of impoverished youth, without money or jobs or hope, seeking to blame somebody else for their troubles.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
09/14/07
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

[Shane] Meadows' fictionalized version of these events is at least as vivid -- and at times as hard to watch -- as some of Ken Loach's more stark dramas.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
09/13/07
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

This Is England is a movie like a punch to the solar plexus.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
09/12/07
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

It may be the best work to date from the talented 34-year-old writer-director of Twenty Four Seven (1997).

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
09/07/07
John Hartl
John Hartl
Seattle Times

A drama that's so potent and persuasive yet also natural and intimate that it almost has the heft of a documentary.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
09/07/07
Bruce Westbrook
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Somewhere between the pop jouissance of Guy Ritchie and the social realism of Ken Loach, this ballsy drama freeze-frames bleak Thatcherite Yorkshire and exposes its racist underbelly.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
09/07/07
Marrit Ingman
Marrit Ingman
Austin Chronicle
 
 
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July 23, 2007: Steeped in the raw mix of ska and punk musical sound as expression of the youth alienation and misguided rage of those tumultuous times, an alarming voice of the surging army of jobless youth back then dubbed 'no hopers.' Opens in new window
More...

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