Sweet Sixteen Reviews

Back in the 90's, I was a huge fan of Ken Loach and, nowadays, I still try to watch his movies whenever I got the chance. This movie is probably not one of his most heralded pictures but it is actually one of his very best, at least in my opinion. Following Ken Loach’s tradition and directing style, it is a really realistic and grim drama taking place in Scotland and if your familiar with his work, you could argue that Loach had already been there, done that and bought the T-shirt at least 20 times before. First of all, I just find this style quite fascinating, almost documentary-like, and the big difference with his other movies is that the characters were just fascinating to be behold. The young boy playing the main character was just really amazing, such a terrific performance, and I was wondering if he was still in the game. And he is, without noticing it, I have actually seen him recently in ‘The Disappearance of Alice Creed’ (a weaker movie but also a very solid performance by this young man). I’ll give you that, the whole thing is rather dreary and depressing (compared to this, ‘Trainspotting’ is actually quite fun) but Ken Loach doesn’t want to make any concession and I admire him for that. To conclude, it is a terrific British social drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.