The Worst Film Ever

Sadly Over-hyped

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This movie has some of the best, most happening British actors -- Carlyle, Tomlinson, Ifans, Burke -- in it, and still manages to be as exciting as stale, damp bread. And I don't know what it's got to do with the Midlands, as all the lead actors are from anyplace but the Midlands, and there is nothing that links the story specifically to that part of the country, unless that place is supposed to symbolize general working class tackiness. Probably the only reason why this is labeled "Midlands" is so that it can be marketed as being the concluding part of a trilogy, which is a concept that some movie buffs and completists seem to enjoy. The Western motif is also pretty construed, and is mostly limited to Ricky Tomlinson wearing a cowboy hat. The story just ambles on and never engages you. You just watch a bunch of weirdos mouthing off and doing pointless stuff.

If the interviews and commentary-track on the Dead Man's Shoes DVD are anything to go by, even Meadows himself considers this film to be something of a failure; even going so far as to take up semi-retirement until Paddy Considine could talk him into making another film. As a result of Meadows' personal opinion, coupled with the critical notices at the time, I'd avoided the film under the allusion that it was an absolute cinematic disaster; a Brit-flick turkey completely devoid of merit!! As it happens, however, the film isn't all that bad, or at least, not as bad as I'd been led to believe by the director and the critics.The story is simple, with Meadows and co-writer Paul Fraser playfully attempting juxtapose the conventions of the spaghetti western genre with the more traditional style of British storytelling favoured by the likes of Ken Loach and Mike Leigh. So, we have the usual western flourishes - the lone desperado riding into town, the fight between the two protagonists over the hand of a fair maiden and the big mid-narrative showdown at the local saloon - appearing alongside the more obvious British concerns like family-ties, shell-suits, day-time talk shows and bingo. The combination of the two forms isn't entirely successful, and it seems that the filmmakers aren't quite committed to the concept 100%, with certain parts of the film simply descending into the style of film-making usually reserved for an ITV social drama. The use of the widescreen "cinema-scope" photography works well, with Meadows lovingly referencing the films of Sergio Leone, most prominently in the scene in which Robert Carlisle's character Jimmy has an altercation with the bumbling Dek - brilliantly played by Rhys Ifans - at the auto-garage where he works. As well as that particular scene, there's also the big climactic face-off between the two characters, which is also perfectly handled by Meadows and his crew; with the director making great use of the frame and plenty of low-angles, whilst a crane shot rising above the houses as one of the characters drives off into the sunset is also a particularly nice touch (though it's a shame Meadows didn't go for close-up shots of the character's eyes, ala A Fistful of Dollars, but perhaps that would have been a little too much?).Comic relief comes courtesy of Ricky Tomlinson and Kathy Burke in supporting roles, with both actors doing their usual trademark shtick to great effect (a scene in which Burke's character accidentally gets hit on the head with a projectile microphone is bound to generate more laughs that you'd probably expect!!). Carlisle and Shirley Henderson are both good in their pivotal roles, though for me it's Ifans who really impresses; managing to make his character likable and believable as he progresses through the film from meek-doormat into someone who is willing to fight for the family he loves. This is the second film I've seen, following Enduring Love in which Ifans hasn't seemed like a complete caricature (sort of like he did in Notting Hill and Human Nature), with both films showing his capacity to switch from sly humour to emotional drama within a single scene and furthering his metamorphosis into one of the UK's greatest actors.Once Upon A Time... is by no means as impressive or inspiring as other films by Meadows, in particular A Room for Romeo Brass and Dead Man's Shoes, but it's enjoyable enough and charming in its own way, with Meadows and Fraser balancing an interesting story with an imaginative concept and a handful of strong performances.

OUATITM starts off as a so-so comedy, eventually drifting into the kind of sappy romantic drama garbage that even an 8 year-old can write. There is almost nothing happening in the last 30 minutes - unless you consider Henderson's ping-pong-ball wishy-washy eenie-miney-mo decision-making process to be riveting viewing. In fact, Shirley, though cute in her own strange way and otherwise a solid actress, plays a very one-dimensional woman. She is totally uninteresting, having less to say than a piece of furniture. 95% of the time she wears a sad, hang-dog facial expression, while the other cast members get to clown around, especially Ifans who probably had a ball playing his character. I just wish I had as much fun watching this dull mediocrity as the mostly wasted cast had in getting paid to have the fun they had. British big-screen comedy is once again at a low point, thanks to these kinds of lazily conceived scripts. It takes two days to write this sort of junk, but months to come up with a genuinely funny script - which does NOT end in cliché melodrama. To make things worse, the schmaltzy chewing-gum-pop soundtrack - which includes waste-of-space no-talent whisper-method-singers like Norah Jones - doodles in the background a lot of the time, often setting us up for yet more dullness.

I really liked this movie. Due to the heavy accents, the dialog was sometimes hard to understand, so I did rewind some to catch it. I really liked the story, I loved that Dek was so devoted to his girlfriend Shirley and loved her daughter Marlene as his own. I thought that loving, responsible Dek (Rhys Ifans) was the sexy one, not Jimmy who was a loser and a jerk(although robert carlyle is nice looking). I thought that Rhys had great chemistry with both Shirley Henderson and Finn Atkins. For me it would have been a no brainer to pick Dek.I also enjoyed the extended family relationship between the two families. The characters were colorful too.