STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday MorningThe Cutlers are a traveller family living on the outskirts of Gloustershire. Colby (Brendan Gleeson) is the patriarch of the clan, the father figure with a contempt for authority, the education system and various other outside institutions that don't fit around the gypsy lifestyle. He uses a dummy of a policeman for target practise, and organizes raids on million dollar mansions owned by the rich. His son Chad (Michael Fassbender) wants a better life for his son Tyson (Georgie Smith), who he sends to a mainstream school, and wants out of the gypsy world. But after a raid on a judge's home goes awry, he finds himself plunged into a situation that spirals out of control, as the police crack down hard on them.My local community has, in recent times, suffered at the hands of the travelling community, who've caused disruption rolling up on various car parks and such (in schools, and cinemas, ironically enough...), leaving much mess behind and taking up valuable police resources in getting rid of them. This lawless culture would seem to leave a blight on many places around the country, with similar tales being reported in various media outlets. With his feature length debut, director Adam Smith attempts to bring the world to the forefront in a traditional crime story about loyalty, honour and respect that doesn't reach any dizzying heights, but still demands your attention and keeps you gripped till the end.It's one of those films where the performances drive the movie, and the star of the show would have to be Gleason, who has the most effective presence as the head of the clan, commanding respect and undivided attention from his brethren, but a definite runner up would be Fassbender, who creates an authentic embodiment of a real life gypsy, from his language to his mannerisms and swagger. A supporting cast including Lyndsey Marshal and Sean Harris, have equal kudos, but unavoidably have more limited screen time to display it.Story wise, it's compelling and mighty enough, but there's just not enough of a solid structure to it to make it quite as dynamic as it could have been. Still, it could have been a lot worse, and Smith at least has the respite to include some humour in the proceedings in the form of some witty writing. You won't come away loving gypsies any more, but you'll at least be woken up to the filmic potential their background provides. ***

I saw the negative reviews before watching this film and decided that with Gleeson and Fassbender in starring roles, it couldn't be all that bad. Well, it is and then some. In England there are three types of travelling people - the original Rom gypsies (very rare now), Irish travellers who in English are often called "Tinkers" and a third group of basically itinerant criminals called "Pikeys".They travel the highways and byways of merrie England camping illegally on public or private land, terrorising the local population, taking over the nearby pubs and generally causing trouble whilst they carry on with their more traditional pursuits of begging and stealing.Eventually they move on or are moved on leaving piles of rotting garbage (you could clearly see this towards the end of the film) for someone else to clear up. That community is what this film is about.I cannot think of a less edifying subject for a film.Are we supposed to empathise with this group of nomadic miscreants perhaps seeing something noble in their total disregard for law and order and other peoples wellbeing? Are they the modern hunter-gatherers of society turning their backs on a corrupt system and preferring to live a life free from other people's rules like working for a living and paying taxes? I neither know nor care.A totally misconceived and egotistical dog's breakfast of a film giving the audience nothing for their money.Perhaps the director once bought a sprig of heather from a woman in a straw hat and colourful clothing - " It will bring you luck dearie"- and thought it would be a good idea to make a film about these lovely people.The accent which gave people a lot of trouble is what we call in England "West Country" - basically the counties of Devon and Cornwall. A broad west country accent is difficult to understand even for the English so I don't know how they would expect the rest of the world to cope with it- utter stupidity. Incidentally Gleeson's accent was authentic most of the time save for the occasional trip back to Dublin but Fassbender absolutely nailed it. You might say that this is what you would expect from an actor with his talents but for a man from Heidelberg it was a truly remarkable feat.When I started this review I intended to give it a 2 but I have decided to give it 3 because the sun is shining today.

Michael Fassbender and Brendan Gleeson team up as a father and son criminal team with Gleeson being the brains, while Fassbender doing all the leg work. Gleeson as Colby is so deep in the game that he knows nothing else and refuses anything else, an attitude he expects from his son Chad, played by Fassbender but Chad has enough of a foot outside the game to know that he desperately does not want his young son Tyson to follow down this bloodline, even if Colby sees nothing wrong with the hand Jesus gave him (Colby is a God loving crook).The film is about Chad being stuck in his outlaw life style. He wants it to be over but he has no options as he can't read or write, which blows my mind that a man in this day and age has no grasp at all of the language he's speaking, but it happens, and he's doing everything he can to make sure his son is educated.One really cool thing I should mention about the film is the fact that it has some really awesome car chases in it. Not the main purpose of the film but Fassbender does play a getaway driver and his getaway driving was great.It's a great performance piece coming from all the actors with Fassbender and Gleeson leading the charge. It really has that going for it as it's very small and really sweet and met to hit a nerve with those who know what it's like to be stuck and want better but just seem incapable of doing it.http://cinemagardens.com

Fassbender is a good actor as is Brendan Gleeson and the story is a good one.It is hard to understand what they say & i am Scottish!! It's all gypo ( gypsie) talk and anyone from anywhere else other than the UK is going to have a hard time with this - subtitles needed :)The story is a well trodden one - where the main character wants to change his life but is enmeshed in the culture he was brought up in and it's taking him down.Some good car chases - even through fields!! Someone said it has no redeeming qualities but ultimately it's not Hollywood and there are no happy endings. A good gritty story with tension and a fair bit of action - food character study - Fassbender does a good job here.