The Angel’s Share

DVD/Stream of the Week: The Angel’s Share

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THE ANGEL’S SHARE

The Angel’s Share is an endearing tale of a hard luck guy’s life changing after a visit to a Scotch whisky distillery. Released back to hardscrabble Glasgow after doing prison time, a young man becomes a father and determines to change his life. As focused as he is, that wouldn’t be possible without the encouragement of the guy who leads his community service work crew and the prodding of his girlfriend. The odds are against him, but he gathers an oddball team from the work crew and devises an ingenious (and funny) heist.

The story begins with a clever court sentencing montage that only gradually settles our attention on the protagonist. This young man (Paul Brannigan) is terse and always potentially destructive, yet we root for him because of his single-minded commitment to acting on his good intentions. His potential is not apparent to any other characters (or to the audience for a long time). His mentor (John Henshaw) has seen it all, but isn’t so jaded as to write off every unemployed and unemployable ex-con; more complex than he seems, he lives a lonely life, sparked by a single hobby.

The movie’s accessible tone surprised me because militant British director Ken Loach is known for far grimmer socialist realist films; here, Loach’s filmmaking skills and his unvarnished depiction of Glasgow slums enhance his warm story and hopeful characters.

Fortunately, because the Glaswegian accent is very difficult for we Americans to follow, The Angel’s Share is subtitled. The Angel’s Share is a fun and heartwarming movie that a wide audience will enjoy.

The Angels’ Share is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, YouTube and XBOX.

Movies to See Right Now

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MUD

Go see the gripping and thoughtful Mud.  Two Arkansas boys embark on a secret adventure with a man hiding from the authorities, and they learn more than they expected about love and loyalty.   Mud is one of the best movies of 2013.

Best bets in theaters this week:

      • If you see the thought-provoking drama The Place Beyond the Pines with Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, you’ll still be mulling it over days later;
      • I guarantee that you will enjoy the absolutely winning The Sapphires, a charmer about Australian Aboriginal teens forming a girl group to entertain troops in the Vietnam War.
      • Don’t overlook the heartwarming British indie The Angel’s Share about a hard luck guy’s struggle to turn his life around with unexpected help from some ultra-rare Scotch whisky.  

The compelling documentary The Central Park Five from Ken Burns, et al, is available streaming from Amazon Instant and other VOD providers. Football fans should tune into ESPN’s 30 for 30 for Elway to Marino, an inside look at several astonishing stories from the 1983 NFL draft.

There are two big releases this weekend:  The Reluctant Fundamentalist and At Any Price.   You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is Flight, starring Denzel Washington as an airline pilot who becomes a hero after saving his passengers in a miraculous crash landing, but then risks legal jeopardy unless he can get his drinking under control. Flight is available on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and streaming from many VOD outlets.

On May 7, Turner Classic Movies will be broadcasting the three film noir classics: Out of the Past, The Asphalt Jungle and The Naked City.

The Angel’s Share: a heartwarming surprise

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THE ANGEL'S SHARE

The Angel’s Share is an endearing tale of a hard luck guy’s life changing after a visit to a Scotch whisky distillery.  Released back to hardscrabble Glasgow after doing prison time, a young man becomes a father and determines to change his life.  As focused as he is, that wouldn’t be possible without the encouragement of the guy who leads his community service work crew and the prodding of his girlfriend.  The odds are against him, but he gathers an oddball team from the work crew and devises an ingenious (and funny) heist.

The story begins with a clever court sentencing montage that only gradually settles our attention on the protagonist.  This young man (Paul Brannigan) is terse and always potentially destructive, yet we root for him because of his single-minded commitment to acting on his good intentions.  His potential is not apparent to any other characters (or to the audience for a long time).  His mentor (John Henshaw) has seen it all, but isn’t so jaded as to write off every unemployed and unemployable ex-con; more complex than he seems, he lives a lonely life, sparked by a single hobby.

The movie’s accessible tone surprised me because militant British director Ken Loach is known for far grimmer socialist realist films; here, Loach’s filmmaking skills and his unvarnished depiction of Glasgow slums enhance his warm story and hopeful characters. 

Fortunately, because the Glaswegian accent is very difficult for we Americans to follow, The Angel’s Share is subtitled.  The Angel’s Share is a fun and heartwarming movie that a wide audience will enjoy.