Cheap Sweet Sixteen (DVD) (Martin Compston, Annmarie Fulton, Michelle Coulter) (Ken Loach) Price

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Customer Reviews of Sweet Sixteen

The side of Scotland people never see.
As someone who has lived in the council estates of Scotland all my life, I enjoyed this film becuase it shows Scotland for what it truly is. For once, and refreshingly, there are no shots of mountains and castles.
The story is about a young guy called Liam growing up on a council estate in Greenock (a town outide Glasgow which has been caught up in unemployment due to decline in shipbuilding over the years. Also where the lead actor grew up and lives)

Liam wants a better life for his mum and sister but he needs to raise the cash to do this. And he raises the money through the only ways he knows how. Work? No. Drugs. Liam feels that selling drugs will help him by a 'home' to get his mother away from her drug dealing boyfriend. But he becomes involved with the notorious Glasgow underworld and gets sucked into further crime through desperation to proove his toughness, and the pull in the opposite direction of a future for his family.

This film is extraordinary becuase it tackles situations which most don't think about and it's totally realistic. Liam seems to have a good heart, but he is trapped by the society in which he has grown up. He has no real morals other than close family ties and the need to protect them. Despite the hopes of the viewer, we know that Liam is on the slippery slope and there is no way back.

The acting is superb. Martin Compston flourishes in his first ever role. He had absolutely no acting experience prior to this and was in fact a professional footballer. The supporting cast are all perfect for their roles. In particular the slightly insane Pinball (liam's best friend), Liam's loving sister Chantelle and the psycopath Stan.

I believe there are English subtitles on the DVD. The accent is very strong and unlike other films based on Scotland (Trainspotting/Braveheart) it is not toned down at all. Watching this film affects me personally as people I have grown up knowing have gone in similar ways to Liam. This films is good becuase it show Scotland for what it really is. Forget the mountains, castles and bagpipes. These things are tourist season show. Sweet Sixteen is life as it is the rest of the year.

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Good solid Loach film.
Ken Loach films tend to be hit-and-miss for me. I loved "Bread and Roses," for example, but disliked "Carla's Song." I was uncertain exactly what was in store for me when I rented "Sweet Sixteen". The film is set in Scotland, and the accents are strong enough that the film is subtitled. The story concerns a 15-year-old boy named Liam whose mother is serving jail time for illegal substances. Liam lives with his violent stepfather (who sells those illegal substances) and his unpleasant grandfather. The home situation is tenuous at best, but when Liam disobeys his stepfather's attempt to smuggle drugs to his mother during a prison visit, he is beaten and tossed out on the streets.

Liam moves in with his sister, Chantelle--a single mother--who lays down some rules in an attempt to protect her child. Liam and best friend, Pinball, dream of buying a caravan for 6,000 pounds, and the plan becomes to get this caravan in time for Liam's mother's release from jail.

"Sweet Sixteen"--although a tale of hopelessness, was not overwhelmingly depressing, and this is thanks to the likeablity of Liam's character. Liam has no future, and no means of getting a quick 6,000 pounds, so he turns to Heroin sales as a way to meet his humble goal. There is something fundamentally good in Liam's soul, but unfortunately he is corrupted thanks to his environment. He doesn't stop and question the morality of selling Heroin--after all, it's a family tradition. During some scenes, I was touched by Liam's childlike qualities, and yet at other times, I was horrified by his behaviour (when he goes joyriding with his infant nephew for example). These sorts of scenes underscore the moral vacuity of Liam's upbringing. What chance does Liam have? What chance did he ever have?

Loach tends to concentrate on the working classes, and this film is not an exception to this. The picture Loach paints is bleak indeed, and I couldn't help but wonder how much Liam could have achieved in life if given better circumstances. Martin Comstock plays Liam, and this is his first acting role. He really does an incredible job and is a natural. The film is gritty, dark, and full of hopeless characters who cannot escape from their environment, and yet some optimism remains. "Sweet Sixteen" was not a pretty film, and it certainly is a sad commentary on our times that a kid as resourceful, clever, and funny as Liam remains trapped in a world without opportunities--other than criminal--displacedhuman.

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Nice movie ... nice subtitles
The movie is sweet in its own way ... but seriously, is there anyone outside of Glasgow who could understand a word these people were saying? Granted, it makes the girls pretty alluring, those accents ...