Vendetta Films
Available now on DVD and Blu-ray
It can be a defining moment of childhood for some when they learn that their parents are indeed human, fallible and prone to error and weakness. Such is the case for 11-year-old Jamie (Arron Fuller), whose wake-up call is far more precarious than catching dad putting Christmas presents under the tree.
Jamie's dad, Charlie (Robert Carlyle), is a secret agent though he never much elaborates on who exactly he works for or what precisely is the mission that he says will earn him $2 million and allow he and Jamie to retire to much warmer climes than dreary late 1980s Wales, where the story takes place.
The pair keep mostly to themselves, hidden away in their small apartment, with Charlie suspicious of everyone. The recent acquisition of a gun does nothing to quell Jamie's growing fears that all may not be right with his dad. And it is hard to go any further into the details of the plot without revealing too much, needless to say that everything that Jamie's father has told him about his line of work and their current situation may not be entirely true.
Playing crazy is nothing new for Carlyle, he's been doing it on and off since he came to attention as resident pyscho, Begbie, in Trainspotting (1996). He and Fuller work well at conveying a loving father-son relationship that is slowly falling apart. But that, combined with the knowledge that these events closely resemble those of writer-director Justin Kerrigan's own childhood, failed to have me either intrigued or moved.
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