STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
After twelve years inside for armed robbery, former criminal Jimmy Rose (Ray Winstone) is released from prison, and returns home determined to start a new life with his family. But they've hardly stood still in his absence, and re-adjusting his absent presence to their life is going to be hard, especially with ex wife Jackie (Amanda Redman) who's hardly been faithful. He spots a chance to get in their good books when he learns his grand-daughter India (Daisy Cooper-Kelly) has fallen in to drugs and the undesirables associated with them. In order to rescue her, he is forced to revert back to his old ways one last time.
Winstone is an everyman actor, in that he'll throw his weight behind a massive big screen production, made on either side of the Atlantic with weightier production values, or something more small scale like this made for TV three part drama. He's become one of our prized national exports, and one I'm fond of out of the British set, with a certain dramatic intensity that sets him apart from many others, although his belting rendition of 'That's Life' at the opening suggests he's aiming towards a singing career, which I'm not so sure about. But as always, he's a highly emotional and unrestrained actor, throwing that passionate South London persona into this much the same as he has many other roles.
Taking a well worn story, that follows all the genre clichés to a tee, and doesn't meander much into anything that could be described as new territory, this really is little more than distracting, going through the motions towards a pretty standard finale. A summary such as this hardly elevates expectations, but that's not to say it isn't executed in an above average way by a pretty accomplished cast and crew, or that there aren't neat, quaint little touches that make it stand out in it's own little way, such as Jimmy struggling to adjust to modern technology such as modern mobile phones, or having to use an oyster card to travel on the bus.
On the surface, it's really nothing you haven't seen before, but for a smaller scale TV production, it's a cut above the usual thing and still worth watching. ***
After twelve years inside for armed robbery, former criminal Jimmy Rose (Ray Winstone) is released from prison, and returns home determined to start a new life with his family. But they've hardly stood still in his absence, and re-adjusting his absent presence to their life is going to be hard, especially with ex wife Jackie (Amanda Redman) who's hardly been faithful. He spots a chance to get in their good books when he learns his grand-daughter India (Daisy Cooper-Kelly) has fallen in to drugs and the undesirables associated with them. In order to rescue her, he is forced to revert back to his old ways one last time.
Winstone is an everyman actor, in that he'll throw his weight behind a massive big screen production, made on either side of the Atlantic with weightier production values, or something more small scale like this made for TV three part drama. He's become one of our prized national exports, and one I'm fond of out of the British set, with a certain dramatic intensity that sets him apart from many others, although his belting rendition of 'That's Life' at the opening suggests he's aiming towards a singing career, which I'm not so sure about. But as always, he's a highly emotional and unrestrained actor, throwing that passionate South London persona into this much the same as he has many other roles.
Taking a well worn story, that follows all the genre clichés to a tee, and doesn't meander much into anything that could be described as new territory, this really is little more than distracting, going through the motions towards a pretty standard finale. A summary such as this hardly elevates expectations, but that's not to say it isn't executed in an above average way by a pretty accomplished cast and crew, or that there aren't neat, quaint little touches that make it stand out in it's own little way, such as Jimmy struggling to adjust to modern technology such as modern mobile phones, or having to use an oyster card to travel on the bus.
On the surface, it's really nothing you haven't seen before, but for a smaller scale TV production, it's a cut above the usual thing and still worth watching. ***