Running time: 105 minutes
Starring: Stephen Graham, Nicky Bell, Liam Boyle
Rating 4 out of 10
Based on Kevin Sampson's cult novel of the same name - albeit both a cult and a novel unfamiliar to me- Awaydays is an outsider coming-of-age drama chronicling the life of a young putative football hooligan on Liverpool in the late 1970s.
Despite its best intentions - and this is very much a film that wears its heart on its sleeve - it's an unconvincing affair. A very obvious low budget (all the more obvious in a period drama), some questionable directorial decisions, and a couple of unconvincing lead performances all lend it the whiff of the amateur. The film is directed by Pat Holden (whose only previous directorial credit is for an American teen sex comedy) and produced by the author of the novel and it soon becomes clear that they are in love with their subject to the detriment of any objectivity. It is presented as a cinematic fait accompli, a thing of power and beauty, but there are too many creaky moments to make it convincing.
The rites of passage tale sees Nicky Bell as Carty, a teenage lad from the right side of the tracks who falls in with the wrong crowd when he becomes obsessed by an arty proto-hooligan named Elvis (Liam Boyle) who is himself under the spell of his gang leader and chief troublemaker (Stephen Graham). He takes his motley crew all over the country to cause trouble with other football fans (the terrace scenes are the least convincing). Soon enough Carty is having a homoerotic relationship with Elvis and rising up the ranks of the gang - but at what price?
The whole thing may have an appeal for those with an eye for a certain nostalgic moment - it's very consciously Adidas trainers, parka jackets and a muso-friendly late 70s soundtrack - but the majority of people will probably be unable to forgive the degree of naivety running through it.
Paul Hurley
