Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

stantheman1961 I waited with eager anticipation of this film, I myself have been a MOD for 40+ years and the build up surrounding this film it was being likened to Quadrophenia it was nowhere nearHow disappointed i was, the main character 'Dixie'although wearing a Parka and MOD T-Shirt and telling us he was a MOD resembled no genuine MOD i have ever seen scruffy unkempt hair and walking around thru out the whole film with a tatty Tesco shopping BagOK to the film the plot was very thin Scruffy Mod comes to big city to manage a band any band don't matter that its not a MOD band again hard to believeI could not connect with any of the characters there was nothing to them very superficial i couldn't empathise with any of them sorry 4/10 for me

l_rawjalaurence SVENGALI tales a straightforward tale of a would-be band manager Dixie (Jonny Owen) traveling up from his home in the Welsh valleys to manage a band. The band achieved a certain notoriety (pace the Sex Pistols) and secure a BBC recording session as well as numerous offers of recording contracts. Dixie tries his best to keep them under control, but finds the strain too much and eventually returns home with his girlfriend Shell (Vicky McClure). This film is very much a one-person show: Owen not only stars in it, but wrote the script and produced it. Director John Hardwick keeps the action going at a brisk pace, and there is some atmospheric cinematography by Catherine Derry, contrasting the lonely Welsh and Scottish rural locations with the urban squalor of central London. The film makes some trenchant points about the difficulties of surviving in the Smoke, especially when Dixie and Shell have to deal with a formidable central European landlady (Katy Brand). There are some memorable cameos by Martin Freeman as a record-shop owner and Maxine Peake as his long-suffering spouse desperately trying to prevent her husband from losing his temper. The story is a familiar one, but Owen turns in a winning central performance as Dixie: after what he experiences in trying to keep the band together, as well as dealing with a series of rapacious characters including loan-shark Teddy (Eddie Webber) and vamp Natasha (Natasha O'Keeffe), it's not surprising that he wants to return to the comparative security of home. In his final film before his untimely death, Brian Hibbard turns in a memorable cameo as Dixie's Dad; the scene where father and son talk to one another on a wind-swept Welsh mountain is particularly affecting.

timlin-4 The story of bands "making it" is always interesting, though this movie is more quirky than dramatic or inspiring of course since it is fictional. The "Svengali" in this story is a socially awkward weirdo with a dream of representing a promising band, which is a somewhat easy way of setting up a comedy, though the character is sympathetic enough, and his banter with his girlfriend is amusing. It's not really clear if he has any ability nor if the band does so the movie really comes down to the character's development. But instead of the oddball finding strength, he finds weakness, basically degenerating into a little boy who wants a mommy. I suppose this is a something of a twist, and the sappiness may appeal to some, but it's particularly pathetic variation on the theme of the Weak British Male.

sajpratt-82-265277 I've heard it said that British humor doesn't always translate that well beyond the island's shores, often leaving many non-British audiences scratching their heads in contemplation, "Well, they said it was supposed to be hilarious, so what did I miss?"Like many of the British and Australian movies for the last two decades (I hesitate to say 'Commonwealth' in light of the superb efforts coming from NZ lately!)--made worse by inexplicable plot holes, kitschy lines, worn-out gags and predictable, stiffly-staged buffoonery--it's hard not to label this as yet another yawn fest.A fractured, ludicrously fashioned story line cobbled together from webisodes cannot be made whole by using atmospherics and poll-tested giggle gimmicks--various formulae mostly pushed by nervous producers and sponsors; 'if it doesn't make old what's-his-bob larf then it ain't on' still won't win an audience. I won't fault the acting here because it appears to be actors doing exactly what they have been instructed to do--admirable in the shallows that their various stereotypical, story-hobbled character development allows. I'll add that I believe it's possible that John Hardwick could have done better with more time and a better writer--the theme itself is fertile enough fodder for a decent writer.But, comedy or drama, theater is theater folks, as Will Shakespeare has endlessly demonstrated in transition from stage to screen to web. Seemingly lost within its own confusion and often distracting, pointless meandering--this just isn't good theater. It may have been a touch better had they included a laugh track.