New Town Original Movie Review:


This independent drama was produced, filmed and distributed--completely outside the British film industry--by three Essex boys. It's a rather amateurish movie in many ways, but it shows considerable skill as it captures the real rhythms of life in England's new towns.

Mick (Jordan) is a young professional in Basildon who lives in a comfortable housing estate, works in an industrial park and hangs out with his friends in a leisure centre that contains bars, clubs, cinemas and even a bowling alley. But Mick's life is shaken up when he falls for a girl (Peachey) whose ex (NcNeilly) is a local thug. Now Mick is paranoid that the thug is out to get him, so he turns to friends and colleagues for advice. But they're not very helpful.

It's a very slim storyline, but it allows the filmmakers to really examine life in what could be any new town in Britain. There's no sense of history in the anonymous architecture; the micro-dramas feel like things everyone experiences. And writer-director Ford observes this tellingly, without over-dramatising the action and only briefly resorting to editing trickery. He nicely maintains this low-key vibe--relaxed, funny, authentic. Jordan gives the film an engaging centre; he's like a composite of Orlando Bloom and Jude Law, with a scrawny, boyish charm that reminds us he's really just a kid out on his own. The novice cast is fresh and engaging, although their inexperience shows in a few scenes that feel overacted and somewhat cliched.

Ford tells his simple tale cleverly, with a generous streak of humour that's balanced by an oddly heavy violent turn of events and a serious point underneath it all. Where it exceeds expectations is in the way he captures the imagery and pace of life in this environment. The camera work is excellent--sharply framed and lit--and the editing is sharp and telling. It looks like a fully budgeted movie, and this helps capture the laddy machismo that fuels this subculture, as well as the tentative yearning and the everyday boredom that just needs a bit of a jolt to the system. Intriguing and promising.



Rich Cline

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