This was a real treat for a couple of homesick Brits living in Australia. As good as The Full Monty for capturing Englishness in all its wonderful oddness; our obsession with hobbies, beer, and seaside holidays. Michael Sheen mirrors his Cloughy accent from the also excellent The Damned United. He overdoes the role slightly - a bit too tragi-comic for my taste - but the whole movie carries you happily along on its road trip through the beautiful Peak District on the road to ghastly Blackpool. Highlights for me were seeing the awesome Kate Rusby pop up as a pub singer and also a comment from one of the bikers when Sheen arrives at the said pub on his knackered moped: 'Look, it's Carl Fogarty'. Very English, funny, charming and somehow poignant. The ending does not disappoint.
Review of Heartlands
