A big disappointment from a 50/50 director

I first came to Shane Meadows through his best films (Dead Man's Shoes, Romeo Brass and This is England). Those are really superb.

Not surprisingly I decided to look up his back catalogue to complete the picture.

Somers Town was first. Really quite dull, despite the excellent re-use of his discovery - Thomas Turgoose.

Then I came to Once Upon a Time in the Midlands. Better. More of a plot, strongly drawn characters and committed performances. Still not on the same level as the "big three" though.

Then Twenty Four Seven. Hmm... 1) Completely unnecessary use of black and white film stock (as if to conjour up some "grittiness" perhaps?); 2) Obtrusive and irrelevant soundtrack (as if he just wanted an excuse to play his favourite tunes); 3) The dreaded voiceover - always symptom of lazy screenwriting and a shortcut to plot exposition; 4) the strong point is Bob Hoskins' central performance (though he struggles to master a Northern accent).

Why is Shane Meadows so patchy? After the first three films I was looking forward to a real treat in following up his other work. Now I can see why it is just that; his "other" work. The movies that never made it, I guess. For good reasons, it seems.

A pity.