A Room for Romeo Brass (2000)

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Am I Missing Something?

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Made in 1999 by the talented Shane Meadows, A ROOM FOR ROMEO BRASS is a comedy drama about a pair of middle school best friends and a stranger that rumbles his way into their lives.While fending off a couple, older soccer bullies, Romeo and Gavin are assisted by a stranger named Morell, a lanky twenty-something who though initially seems nice enough, has some serious deep seated issues. Anyhow, the three instantly befriend, and before anyone knows it, Morell is one of the boys. Hanging out, laughing it up, driving around; things seem reasonable enough. It isn't until Morell asks to meet Romeo's sister do things suddenly change for the worse, and a simple prank by Gavin has the sensitive Morell pushing the friends apart.Through intimidation does Morell succeed, and as you continue to watch his character, it's quite obvious that despite his age, Morell emulates his younger friends, only worse; bullying the boys, and inevitably, everyone in his path too cowardly to stand up for themselves.The film is a great character study of friends growing apart, family change, adult responsibilities in a child's world, and where your allegiances will always lie.Paddy Considine is a tour de force as Morell. Every single scene he is in is memorable, maintaining an awkward and darkly humorous atmosphere from start to finish. The whole of the cast is actually great, very authentic, which only adds to the film's earnest and frightening nature.Great film from across the pond. Paddy Considine should have been nominated for an Oscar for this one.

To say Paddy Considine played the role Morell is a GROSS understatement. The director made wise choice in casting the part. Morell, the town weirdo, wasn't just an important part of the movie, HE WAS THE MOVIE!!! From his first scene to his last, the character grabs your attention and never let's go. Whether it's his of the wall (and mostly unintentional) humor, or his dark yet tormented behavior, Morell (Considine) clearly establishes himself as an integral part of the film. Consinde's ability to generate humor, fear, disdain and sympathy for Morell, makes him a talented actor to watch for in future projects! I highly recommend this film.

Previous to catching this I'd watched a little bit of the earlier critically acclaimed Meadows film, "24:7", enjoyed the portion I saw very much and then was rudely interrupted. Consequently, when I got the chance to borrow "... Romeo Brass" I was mildly excited, if a little unsure about what to expect. 90 minutes later I lay in bed incredibly satisfied. I had seen an example of British cinema carrying on the traditions of artists like Ken Loach. ".. Romeo Brass" is a stunning and disturbing examination of human relationships. The several tone shifts within the film are the result of steady direction rather than shoddy plotting, and Paddy Considine's remarkable performance as "Morell" more than compensates for some shaky rendering by a few of his co-stars.Meadows here creates characters who are unfailingly interesting and rarely easy to predict. The film is a concentrated treasure-trove of wonders, and certain sequences will live with me through many future years of filmic consumption. After seeing this particular effort, I will now make it my mission to absorb everything else that Meadows has done in his career so far. So indeed should you. A marvellous film.

I really liked this film, until I started to realise that the Morrell character wasn't being handled with any kind of compassion. And then it really p***ed me off.It's fairly obvious that he has mental problems, and suffered abuse when younger, yet the film tells us that scary freaks should get the kicking they deserve and then normal people can sit down and have a good cup of tea without worrying about it. If the film had shown a twelve year old boy with mental difficulties getting knocked around by his father, there would have been buckets of sympathy - but once he grows up into the disturbed adult he's destined to be, all that is forgotten and he's just some weirdo that enjoys hanging around with little children. He's not some calculating criminal - he's got problems, but apparently no-one cares about that.There's enough of a problem with people's negative attitudes to mental health without legitimising it on film - and the fact that none of the reviewers ever gave this a second thought is a little worrying...