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Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Chicken Town review — a charming British crime caper with one flaw
Charm can get you so far. And indeed this no-budget British crime comedy from Richard Bracewell, director of the Shakespearean romp Bill, possesses buckets of the stuff. The characters — all outsiders, eccentrics and wannabe rogues — are charming. The flat, green and sun-kissed East Anglian setting (the Fenlands) is charming. And Bracewell's seeming refusal to embrace traditional dramatic coherence is, in its way, charming. It means that the central tale of an ex-con called Jayce (Ethaniel Davy), who is seduced into drug dealing by a kindly neighbourhood grandad, Kev (Graham Fellows, aka John Shuttleworth), is secondary to the film's larkier, diversionary instincts. The charm offensive nonetheless falters badly somewhere around the midway mark, specifically during a tedious sequence with the local kingpin (Alistair Green) when Kev insists upon being called Clint, after Clint Eastwood. • Read more film reviews, guides about what to watch and interviews Kev has inherited a freezer full of weed and has thus recruited Jayce and the video-game enthusiast Paula (Amelie Davies) because … well, that's clearly not important. And nor is the 'villain' Lee's initially intense desire to erect a 5G phone mast (referenced, then abandoned). Or the investigation that Jayce is apparently conducting into his case (repeatedly referenced, then swiftly dropped). Or a strange non sequitur scene, outside a caravan, featuring a visit from Lee's stepmother. The entire film is like this. Random and unfocused. Bit of this. Bit of that. Lots of charm. See how you go. There are great lines hidden in the mulch, mostly delivered by Fellows. Betraying Kev's digital illiteracy, he says of one of his co-workers, 'His wife ran off with some lad from Senegal that she met on eBay.' But the film inevitably degenerates and too much of it is tiresome, flabby and overindulgent.★★☆☆☆ 15, 90min In cinemas Times+ members can enjoy two-for-one cinema tickets at Everyman each Wednesday. Visit to find out more. Which films have you enjoyed at the cinema recently? Let us know in the comments and follow @timesculture to read the latest reviews
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Chicken Town review – endearingly daft Fenland crime caper has a shedful of charm
There are echoes of Shane Meadows and the Coen brothers in this cheerful crime comedy set in the Fens in eastern England. It's endearingly daft and unexpectedly charming for a film about small-town drug dealers full of knob jokes – and contains no actual violence from criminals who are more crap than nasty. There are some sparky performances from the young cast, and it manages to pull off natural, easygoing laughs without the cringe that often seeps into British comedies. Ethaniel Davy is brilliant as Jayce, who has just been released from 10 months in a young offenders' institution – wrongly convicted for crashing a stolen car. Now that he's out, he wants answers. What everyone except Jayce knows is that it was his best mate Lee (Ramy Ben Fredj, also terrific) behind the wheel of the car. Lee is the heir to a battery-chicken farming empire with links to organised crime. His dad, Lee Sr, has just remarried and sent him to live in a caravan at the edge of the family estate. Lee Jr is thick and spoilt, an adult man with a toddler brain, but like everything in the film, rather sweet underneath it all. Meanwhile Jayce and his old schoolmate Paula (Amelie Davies) get roped into a drug deal, joining forces with retired busybody Kev (Graham Fellows). Kev has somehow (plot is not this film's strong point) ended up with a shed in his allotment full of high-quality weed. The unlikely friendship between the two kids and Kev gives the film some of its funniest lines. In Kev's front room, Paula is mesmerised by his carriage clock, a retirement present. 'Is it ironic?' she asks, genuinely curious. 'No, it's brass.' And the final moment of comedy, a scene involving a joke about Kev's 67-year-old bladder is priceless. This is a very likable film. Chicken Town is in UK cinemas from 27 June.
