A Room for Romeo Brass
Directed by Shane Meadows
Written by Shane Meadows and Paul Fraser
REVIEW BY JONATHAN SINGER
The dramatic and comic realism of A Room for Romeo Brass carries an emotional punch, but in the end the blow is only lightly felt.
Romeo Brass, directed by Shane Meadows and written by Meadows and Paul Fraser, gives a stark portrayal of friendship, love and violence in English working-class lives.
Gavin (Ben Marshall) and Romeo (Andrew Shin), both aged 12, are best mates. But their lives head in different directions.
Gavin has an operation for a spinal defect that makes him limp. While recovering, he develops his writing skills, despite the inattention of his father, Bill (James Higgins).
Romeo, reacting against the return of his father (Frank Harper), dives deep into a close friendship with Morrell (Paddy Considine), who, though 15 years older, has rescued the two boys from a fight with some teenagers.
This situation is alien enough, but Morrell — played with demonic, staccato brilliance by Considine — is more alien still. His actions turn from the socially inept to the malevolent, yet drive the actions of all the other characters.
The hardest tale of Romeo Brass — what has made Morrell what he is and whether he is a product of what has surrounded him — remains untold. The part-buddy, part-coming-of-age melange of the two children is, in comparison, a cop-out.
Meadows might be compared to other English film directors Ken Loach (Raining Stones, My Name is Joe) and Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies), who set their films in the same social conditions.
But, in the comparison, Meadows comes off the worse. There is no fight in his characters against what creates them.