Time Out says
Recalling elegiac war crime procedurals like ‘In the Valley of Elah’, it’s a tougher and more genre-inspired work that we’d expect from social-realist doyen Loach. But its tight focus on a corrupted white male gunning for retribution creates a neat symmetry with titles like ‘My Name Is Joe’ and even ‘Looking for Eric’. Communication is a central motif, especially when examining the limits of technology when it comes to relaying the truth of a complex situation. Politically, the film does not mince its words in presenting Fergus and?? his bosses as scavengers out to line their pockets with the spoils of war. But it doesn’t go any further than that, keeping details of the contractors’ work and relationship with ‘official’ bodies scant (the film unfolds in the UK bar a few flashbacks). Dialogue scenes have an impressive, semi-improvised fluidity, while action set-ups mostly fall flat: one where Fergus bugs the car of an old colleague he suspects of foul play is handled in a disappointingly inert fashion.
Release Details
- Rated:15
- Release date:Friday 18 March 2011
- Duration:109 mins
Cast and crew
- Director:Ken Loach
- Screenwriter:Paul Laverty
- Cast:
- Mark Womack
- Geoff Bell
- John Bishop
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