Tag: Billy Howle

Kid Snow

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2Kid Snow

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Paul Goldman

Written by: John Brumpton

Produced by: Lizzette Atkins, Bruno Charlesworth, Megan Wynn

Executive Producers: Matthew Gledhill, Gary Cooper

Starring: Billy Howle, Phoebe Tonkin, Tom Bateman, Mark Coles Smith, Hunter Page-Lochard, Shaka Cook, Jack Latorre, Nathan Phillips, Tasma Walton, John Brumpton, Robert Taylor, Tristan Gorey.

‘Relax.  You’ll get your story.’

Robed, Kid Snow (Billy Howle) and Hammer (Tristan Gorey) shadow box in warm-up before fighting in a competition that ultimately leads to Hammer’s reign as champion.

Cameras flash.

A leggy blond holds a placard, ‘Round 1.’

It’s 1961.

And Kid Snow’s about to throw the fight.

Kid Snow throws the fight to give his brother Rory (Tom Bateman) a chance to get to the top.

It’s family. Their father (John Brumpton) thinks Rory has a better chance but it’s obvious to those watching the fight that Kid Snow could have beaten Hammer and Hammer knows it.

After disaster strikes, leaving Rory maimed and their father dead, the film jumps forward 10 years, showing the two Irish brothers in outback Australia; Rory managing a travelling Tent Fighting show, featuring Kid Snow along with indigenous fighters: Lovely (Mark Coles Smith), Lizard (Hunter Page-Lochard), Armless (Shaka Cook).  And dressed up as a woman, Billy (Nathan Phillips) – the idea to goad the spectators into taking on the travelling fighters to win money and of course, boasting rights.

It’s a living.  A show that now Australian reigning champion Hammer wants to see because he knows Kid Snow thinks he could have taken him all those years ago.  Now he’s champion, Hammer wants to prove he deserves to be champion.

It’s a showdown a reporter, Ed (Robert Taylor) has come to write about – reigning champion versus comeback tent fighter.

At its heart, the film is an underdog story.  Kid Snow taking the fall for his brother, left fighting ‘mugs’ for a living, and introducing Sunny (Pheobe Tonkin) arriving at the show with a black eye and pickpocketing, trying to make her way for her son, Darcy (Jack LaTorre).

Director Paul Goldman states:

‘Our three leads, Billy Howle (Kid Snow), Tom Bateman (Rory Quinn) and Phoebe Tonkin (Sunny), are the beating heart of this film. Each of them brave and compelling in their commitment to diving deeper into their characters and the complex relationships and emotions that resonate through this story.’

There’s the drama of the two brothers’ relationship; the elder brother Rory maimed and bitter, Kid Snow still nursing his pride after throwing the fight that could have made him.

Then there’s Sunny; Rory blackmailing her into working for the show, offering her a chance to make money as a dancer.

Then there’s the blossoming romance between Sunny and Kid Snow as Rory watches from the sidelines.

And as noted by Goldman, this is a unique film about Tent Boxing, ‘A world that, strangely, has never before been brought to the screen.’

There’s a good steady build to the story, written by John Brumpton whom represented Australia in amateur boxing in Thailand and decided to get some work for himself alongside his acting career as a scriptwriter, creating a script with himself as the protagonist.

The actors performed their own stunts which shows on screen, the feeling authentic which brings to light the attention to detail, the knowing look from Sunny, the honesty of Kid Snow.  There’s a good rounding-out of characters that pulls the audience behind the characters, to cheer for the underdog, Kid Snow while also gaining insight into the relationship between the two brothers.

The film does take a beat to warm up, the acting stilted until the fast forward 10 years and the introduction of Sunny.  Then the characters relax into their roles as the relationship between Sunny and Kid Snow develops and the comradery of the follow fighters plays more of a part as Kid Snow prepares for the challenge of boxing against a professional fighter rather than the mugs in the tent.

There’s a good storyline here, and a strong performance from Billy Howle, so although there’s that stilted start, the film keeps building to ultimately cheer the underdog story at its end.

Worth a watch.

The Sense of an Ending

Rated: MThe Sense of an Ending

Director: Ritesh Batra

Producers: David M Thompson and Ed Rubin

Screenplay: Nick Payne

Based on: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Starring: Jim Broadbent, Charlotte Rampling, Harriet Walter, Michelle Dockery, Emily Mortimer, Billy Howle, Joe Alwyn

Tony Webster (the ever-reliable Jim Broadbent) leads a reclusive, quiet existence until long buried secrets from his past force him to face the imperfect recollections of his younger self, the truth about his first love and the disturbing consequences of decisions made long ago.

While not a must see film it is well-made, intriguing and mysterious, more of a slow burner than a page turner. The first part unfolded slowly and there was as much mystery as there were questions answered throughout the film. A major theme throughout is the recognition of how the memory of youth can directly influence the present.

The film provides a good mystery and exploration of the complications of human (and family) relationships. The film is set in two different time periods and it was interesting watching actors inhabit the same role as younger and older versions of the same characters.

Jim Broadbent was excellent as the curmudgeonly older version of Tony Webster, an introvert whose ex-wife Margaret (Harriet Walter) remains one of his best friends in later life.

Charlotte Rampling plays the older Veronica, Tony’s first love, and despite not being on the screen for long, she effectively conveys a sense of being her own person, a mystery that Tony was unable to resolve or understand for who she actually was.

Suggested events were hinted at but some were left unexplained, and it is tantalising wanting to know why one character had such a strong hold over Tony more than forty years later. There are also parallels between the past and the present in the situations characters found themselves in, separated by several decades.

The screenplay, adapted by Nick Payne from the novel by Julian Barnes, may cause admirers of the novel to criticise the licences taken with the original version. Director Ritesh Batra and screenplay writer Nick Payne remain faithful to the essence of the novel, but have generalised places and characters in a way better suited to a cinematic rendering.

For example, the novel relies heavily on the internalised nature of Tony’s narration in the book, which would not have translated easily to the screen unless there was excessive reliance on voice-overs and extended shots of Tony just sitting around looking introspective. Therefore, some minor characters who were just memories for Tony were fleshed out into fully formed roles in the film, so his subjective perception of other characters was counter-balanced by them having their own personalities separate from his view of them.

It also becomes obvious as the film progresses that Tony’s memory is not entirely reliable, which affects how the audience views him and his recollections. Having the other characters acting independently of him allows us to question how much of what we learn from Tony is the truth or just his version of it, which adds to the mystery.

The film was photographed and edited in a careful, slow way that will appeal to those who enjoy settling in for a slower paced unfolding that combines old mysteries with the gradual awakening of living in the present and coming to terms with what happened so long ago.

 

Subscribe to GoMovieReviews
Enter your email address for notification of new reviews - it's free!

 

Subscribe!