The majority of the UK's populace doesn't live like the characters on "Downton Abbey". That of course emphasizes how these are the common people.
Due to the Inverclyde accents, I couldn't understand what they were saying half the time. I recommend watching the movie with subtitles. The inevitable result of a society that ignores entire segments of its population. The boy has no apparent future, so he hangs around with criminals. The protagonist is a teenage boy whose mother is about to get out of jail. His "Sweet Sixteen" could probably take place in any country, but in this case the setting is Scotland. His "Poor Cow" and "Kes" are examples, while "Hidden Agenda" and "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" showed the British government's brutal treatment of the Irish. Throughout his career, Ken Loach has made a number of movies focusing on class issues in the United Kingdom. There is no getting away from the fact that this is a depressing and bleak portrayal of life in poverty but, although not one you'll watch over and over again, it is an impressive and engaging film. Credit to Loach again because he has drawn out convincing performances despite working with a mostly young cast. Ruane has a simpler role but works OK it in, likewise Fulton, Abercromby and others all turn in natural performances. Compston is convincingly ratty and very much the type of kid that most of us would avoid eye-contact with however he manages to find the person in there early on, so that he can then do a good job of losing that same person as it goes on. The cast work well with the script though. Although tit isn't fair to criticise this story for being unrelentingly bleak, it is hard to watch it and, once seen, I cannot imagine why anyone would wish to rewatch it again even within the medium term. It is depressing watching but yet quite compelling and convincing as it paints a world where "bettering oneself" is nothing more than liberal wishful thinking. Laverty's script brings these out well without ever making it come over a preaching or hand-wringing, instead he just presents it for what it is, which is far from cheerful. The gritty, depressing locations and the frequent, strong language are only cosmetic things that suggest the problem because really the grittiness is all in the characters and their situations. The entrapping nature of his world is seen in the need to get in deeper in order to get out and so it goes. In Liam's story his hope is not to become rich but just to get out of the area and hopefully get a normal life with his mother. Typically for those trapped within this sort of world, the goal is to get out of the situation but using the situation to do it but, unlike Jay Z, the story rarely sees the protagonists living to rich old lives married to the sexiest pop diva around. So it is with Sweet Sixteen, which sets us down in a Scottish world of poverty and crime where "opportunity" is having a good supply and a good spot to sell, while being seen as having "potential" means that you can sell without using the stash yourself. At times watching a Ken Loach film is a bit like being having your face pushing down into something unpleasant for two hours occasionally you get to come up and take a breath of fresh air but you are quickly pushed right back down again soon enough. However his opportunities for getting money to set them up is limited and he steals drugs from his step-father's stash and tries to deal them off as quick as possible to make the money he needs. With his mother due to be released in only a few months, Liam is determined to get her a new start along with him, his sister and her young son. His step-father and grandfather having him smuggling drugs in to his mother's prison for her to sell on, while his activities with friend pinball can only politely be described as "anti-social".
Liam is a teenager surrounded by crime and poverty all around him.
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