Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002) - Good performances in Meadows' warm Nottingham dramedy

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A simple, good-times promising poster for Shane Meadows' Once Upon a Time in the Midlands

 

Dek proposes to his girl Shirley and gets a 'no', - even though he does so on live TV, - and Shirley's ex Jimmy then returns home to Shirley and their daughter. - But Dek is not about to give up so easily.

 

Once Upon a Time in the Midlands is written by Paul Fraser (TwentyFourSeven (1997)) and great English filmmaker, co-writer/director Shane Meadows (Small Time (1996)). The midlands that the title refers to is the East Midlands region of England, as the film is set in Nottingham in that region.

A very English and 1990s kind of ugliness meets the eye in the clothes, hair and locations here in a film with a Quentin Tarantino-inspired western grip that is never really integrally explained in the narrative. The plot pendulates between Shirley's wobbling between partners, and some will undoubtedly lose patience with this going back and forth. 

Still I find the film worthwhile, and it has warmth emanating from the strong performances from Shirley Henderson (Filth (2013)), who is lovely, Robert Carlyle (Eragon (2006)), who is ideal as the ego-driven Jimmy, - the type you might jump in the sack with but likely not form a life with, - and Rhys Ifans (Rancid Aluminum (2000)) as the solid but very uncool Dek. Besides these three Finn Watkins (Eden Lake (2008)) is excellent as young Marlene, and Kathy Burke (The Martins (2001)) and Ricky Tomlinson (Safe As Houses (2000, TV movie)) are fine as a loving couple who have quit having sex. Once Upon a Time in the Midlands also has clownish violence and excessively drawn out end credits.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Estimated 1.95 mil. £, approximately 2.5 mil. $

Box office: 544k $

= Box office disaster (returned 0.21 times its cost)

[Once Upon a Time in the Midlands premiered 20 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 104 minutes. Shooting took place in England. The film opened #59 to a 21k $ first weekend in 6 theaters in North America, where it never attained a higher rank, although it widened to 16 theaters, grossing 172k $ (31.6 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 2nd biggest market, the biggest being the UK with 202k $ (37.1 %). Australia was the 3rd biggest with 86k $ (15.8 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Meadows returned with Dead Man's Shoes (2004). Carlyle returned in Black and White (2002); Henderson in Close Your Eyes (2002); and Ifans in Danny Deckchair (2003). 4.6k+ IMDb users have given Once Upon a Time in the Midlands a 6.1/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Once Upon a Time in the Midlands?

Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) - Child performances stand out in July's fine debut

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+ Best Big Hit Movie of the Year + Best Dramedy of the Year

A number of characters are amassed around in a circle around praise by critic Roger Ebert on a coat of pink on this poster for Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know

A woman artist, who has a day job rolling wheelchair-bound elders around, meets an exciting man, who works in a shoe store and is separated from the mother of his children.

Me and You and Everyone We Know is written and directed by debuting Miranda July (Kajillionaire (2020)). The film is actually just as much about the exciting man's two sons, and a couple of teenage girls in the neighborhood, as it is about the two adults that meet.
July's debut is the definition of a quirky, offbeat little indie debut - in this case thankfully with a large personal investment.
The tinily plotted tale is a different kind of film experience, which instead lives on its director's artistic eye for details and symbolism, - as well as some laughter-inducing lines and chains of events.
July, who plays the lead artist herself, and the two boys, portrayed by Miles Thompson (Thirteen Conversations about One Thing (2001)) and Brandon Ratcliff (Blood Shed (2013)), are best in the cast; the latter two are outstandingly natural in the two parts that among other themes revolve around the sexuality of children. July's invention in this respect, particularly for the younger of the boys, will undoubtedly inspire conversations.  John Hawkes' (Contagion (2011)) salesman character, a man who isn't ideally suited for fatherhood, and who rambles on in overly honest fashion at his job, is a bit galling.
July arrives well with this crackerjack of a movie.

 

Related post:

 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Estimated 2 mil. $
Box office: 8 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4 times its cost)
[Me and You and Everyone We Know premiered in January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 91 minutes. Shooting took place in Los Angeles, California from July - August 2004. The film opened #50 to a 30k $ first weekend in 1 theater in North America, where it peaked at #18 and in 160 theaters (different weeks), grossing 3.8 mil. $ (47.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 1 mil. $ (12.5 %) and France with 716k $ (9 %). The film won 4 awards in Cannes, was nominated for 2 Independent Spirit awards and won a prize in Sundance, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to two notches higher than this one. July returned with The Future (2011) as a filmmaker as well as as an actress. Hawkes returned in The Amateurs (2005). Me and You and Everyone We Know is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.38/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Me and You and Everyone We Know?