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| Once Upon a Time in the Midlands |
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  (6/10)
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Runtime: 104 |
| Public Rating: 8.11 (9 votes) |
Director: Shane Meadows |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Romance comedy |
Year: 2002 |
| Writer(s): Paul Fraser & Shane Meadows |
| Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics |
| Reviewed by: Le Apprenti |
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Once Upon a Time in the Midlands there live a man name Dek. Dek is a manager at a type repair shop. He lives in a quiet suburban residence with his fiancee Shirley and her daughter Marlene. On a 'live' talk show, Dek proposes to her but she turns him down... in front of a studio audience and viewers at home. One of the viewers is a bloke name Jimmy, Shirley's previous flame and Marlene's biological dad, a convicted felon who skipped town - and skipped out of their lives - 3 years ago. The sight of another man proposing to a woman that he still considers to be his spurs him to trek back to her home and rekindle their fire.
This romance story does not seem interesting, so director Shane Meadows gives it a western twist... as in spaghetti western. Jimmy (Robert Carlyle) is the villain coming back to town to reclaim the girl he left; Dek (Rhys Ifans) is the awkwardly shy, easily intimidated underdog in danger of losing the girl; and Shirley (Shirley Henderson) is the sultry damsel being contested between the two men. Helping to enforce the feel of a western is composer John Dunn's richly flavored country & western scores, Charlie (Ricky Tomlinson) the country singer, and his wife Carol (Kathy Burke) the resident "meanest mouth of the Midlands".
Yet, as previously mentioned, the heart of the film is a simple romance story. In true movie spirit, Jimmy the villain has more machismo and is more physically attractive than Dek. In spite of what he did, Shirley finds herself drawn to Jimmy. This causes Dek much emotional pain, and true to character he prefers hightailing instead of confrontation. The person most affected by this is not Shirley since, like most girls, she is naturally drawn to more attractive men. It is Marlene (Finn Atkins) who, after her biological father walked out on her, is about to revisit the same heartbreak after seeing Dek take the wimpy way out.
The film's strongest point is the comedy, provided by the supporting characters. Charlie's spoof of the American redneck is outrageous. His home looks like a dump, he makes his phone calls sitting on the toilet seat, and his sing-a-long when driving the kids to school include Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man". Jimmy's three partners-in-crime could have made it on America's Dumbest Criminals had they come to the United States. They attempted a robbery wearing masks that do little to hide their faces, with their getaway vehicle a Mini limosine. Their reason for bring in the story is to track down Jimmy for driving off with the stolen money and leaving them behind. Carol's acerbic banters is hilarious, especially when she is playing bingo at a social club. The only drawback is that the British slangs may not ring a bell to foreign audiences.
Of the lead cast members, Atkins and Ifans are terrific. Atkins reveals different facets of Marlene's emotions - apprehension towards Jimmy, devotion towards Shirley, and growing attachment towards Dek against Jimmy. Ifans is convincingly hopeless as Dek in every awkward timid way. Henderson is terrific with Carlyle - since they have previously worked together - but seems at a loss with Ifans and Atkins, more so with Ifans whose character Shirley supposedly loves. Burke is fantastic as Carol. She is not trying to be comedic yet her lines are funny or serious when they needed to be. Unlike Hollywood and many American movies, none of the actors look like they have been surgically enhanced facially or physically. Tomlinson and Burke are naturally chunky and out-of-shape, which help to make their characters believable.
Overall, Once Upon a Time in the Midlands is an old-fashioned romance tale in the style of an old-fashioned spaghetti western. Most aspects of the romance, including the ending, is hardly new or fresh. It can be a bore, even considering the spaghetti western slant. But what do you expect from an old-fashioned romantic comedy?
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