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Small Time (1996)

Posted By: Someonelse
Small Time (1996)

Small Time (1996)
DVD5 (VIDEO_TS) | PAL 16:9 (720x576) | 00:58:55 | 3,56 Gb
Audio: English AC3 2.0 @ 320 Kbps | Subs: English SDH
Genre: Comedy, Drama | UK

Crime pays, but not very well for a handful of burglars in this drama with comic overtones. Jumbo (Shane Meadows) heads up a gang of very-small-time thieves in an economically crippled British town near Nottingham. Jumbo and his mates Malc (Mat Hand), Willy (Jimmy Hynd), and Bets (Leon Lammond) are having a hard time unloading their latest score – a large supply of dog food – which generates a significant amount of tension between the hoods and their usual fence, Lenny (Tim Cunningham). Meanwhile, Malc's girlfriend Kate (Gena Kawecka) is getting tired of the way Jumbo slaps around his significant other, Ruby (Dena Smiles) and forces Malc to choose between staying with the gang or staying with her (and their child). Small Time marked the feature-length directorial debut for writer, director, and star Shane Meadows; it was shown theatrically with one of Meadows' earlier short subjects, Where's The Money, Ronnie?

IMDB

The first venture into feature-length territory for producer/director Meadows, after two years of shorts, Small Time displays real heart. In writing about this hand-to-mouth existence, Meadows evinces a deep knowledge of his subjects' behaviour patterns and a certain affection for their position. Thus the little details, such as screw-top wine bottles to indicate a total lack of sophistication, ring true. Now this is, of course, in stark contrast to the Hollywood method, where made-up characters do fictional things. Instead it's as if the camera has been dropped into these people's lives, recording the trivia of their days. In consequence Small Time has many scenes where characters shout past each other and very little in the way of dynamic drama, elements that play better than they sound. Fortunately the film doesn't outstay its welcome, making it, in its own way, worth experiencing.

Small Time (1996)

A dilemma facing the cast is that their characters are not interesting people and that they don't lead interesting lives. Instead they're wasters, content to sit around all day drinking and smoking, gossiping and arguing. Thus it's less a case of the actors giving performances, more that they appear natural in their roles and refrain from overemoting to the camera. In this the central four are quite successful, none mugging noticeably; as a team they are watchable, if not compulsively so. The not particularly accomplished cast thus accomplishes the central illusion, making us feel that we are party to real lives. So, Jumbo is a manipulative and hostile thug who forces Ruby to find respite with a vibrator. While Malc is an ordinary bloke caught in the trap of honour and responsibility. An unpleasant environment which Small Time makes real.

Small Time (1996)

It's worth noting, however, that if you do plan to watch Small Time, don't go expecting an English Trainspotting; you'll be disappointed. What we have here is a low-budget flick, bereft of Hollywood production values but vigorous with energy and spirit. Hence the camerawork is erratic, the story collapses badly at the end and there's very little tension or pace, yet the film more-or-less triumphs on its own terms. Meadows has a keen eye for the tiny scams of these shell-suited denizens and when it comes to the nitty-gritty, he doesn't get all precious or pretentious. Small Time isn't the greatest film ever made, there are too many faults for that, but it does have the inner zest which so many big-budget affairs lack.

Small Time (1996)

Note: Small Time is currently being shown together with one of Meadows' earlier films, the ten-minute long Where's The Money Ronnie?. An amusing and frenetic sequence of police interviews, following a robbery gone wrong, the short is memorable predominantly for its accompanying soundtrack.
Damian Cannon, film.u-net
Small Time (1996)

In his impressive debut feature, Shane Meadows stars as Jumbo, leader of a ragtag band of small time crooks, specialising in dog food heists and the sale of Eastern Bloc trainers, empty suitcases and non-existent musical instruments. "This ain't f***ing London, this isn't even Nottingham, man. This is Sneinton," proclaims Jumbo, highlighting the provincial focus of Meadows' work.

Small Time (1996)

In a film of this length, it perhaps isn't surprising that characters appear undeveloped, and the charity shop wigs and costumes don't help matters. But Meadows has much affection for his characters, as is evident in the often brilliant comic dialogue. Discussing a domestic accident, Lenny says 'She was microwaving a chicken and it blew up, and she got a wishbone right in her eye.' What Ruby calls her 'suit' is actually a shell suit. Although the joke is usually on the characters, the humour is not vindictive.

Small Time (1996)

Working with a tiny £5,000 budget, Meadows incorporates a variety of shooting styles. The energetic handheld camera work of the robbery scene contrasts with wide, static shots, which almost give Sneinton a feeling of French New Wave cool.

Meadows makes ironic reference to the failed heist of Quentin Tarantino's essay in cool, Reservoir Dogs (US, 1991), in the framing of Jumbo's run from the police. He also adopts Tarantino's iconic image of the gangsters against a brick wall, used here to show Bets, Jumbo and Willy in the prison yard.

Small Time (1996)

Another reference point is an earlier filmmaker concerned with the marginalized common man - Vittorio De Sica. As the gang return, empty handed, from the car boot sale, (having, incidentally, attempted to steal a child's bike), the long walk back home, through unglamorous streets, evokes the journey taken by father and son in the Italian neorealist classic Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette, Italy, 1949).
Jonny Bugg, BFI screenonline
Small Time (1996)

Features:
- Short film 'Where's the Money, Ronnie? (00:12:21)
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