Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Boba_Fett1138 Too be honest, this was a horrible movie to watch. It was annoying since this is one of those movies that clearly lacks a purpose and you just don't really known what it is you're watching. Luckilly the movie does get slightly better toward its end, so I'm more or less glad I still finished watching it, since I almost switched it off after its first 15 minutes, something I normally never ever do.I still don't know if the movie is trying to be a comedy or a serious movie with comical moments in it. Eitherway, it doesn't really work out effectively. Perhaps it's because of the very underwritten script. It doesn't has some good funny moments written in it and it mostly relies on the stereotyped characters being funny, which they just aren't however. As a realistic and honest straight-forward drama the movie works out better but the atmosphere is just way too light for it to truly ever work out effectively. So here we have one messy movie that just ever really work out either way.The movie is going nowhere really at its start but if you'll survive the first hour relax, the movie will get slightly better after that point. But it's just too little too late, I'm afraid.4/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Jackson Booth-Millard From Tony Grounds, writer and director, also of that one-off special The Dinner Party (which has the main star in it), this isn't a bad black comedy drama about the loser family trying to get a better life. Before I start, I have to say when I saw the poster, I thought it was some kind of spy or action comedy, but never mind. Anway, basically Robert Martin (Lee Evans) enters almost any competition going with big prizes, and his latest attempt saw him towards the finals rounds, but an elderly quite well-off family won instead, Robert obviously blames the paper because they want to make interesting reading. Robert is now on a little bit of rampage with a gun, that he is looking after for a "mate", sticking it out to anyone who is ruining the chance to have a bit more of a better life, mostly for that "luxury holiday" he lost out on. This includes going to the competition runner Hatfield Recorder Editor (Paddy Considine), and of course, the "undeserved" winners Mr. (Frank Finlay) and Mrs. Heath (Barbara Leigh-Hunt) for their tickets. While Robert and the family, wife and mother Angie (Kathy Burke), her mother Anthea (Linda Bassett), and the kids, young son Little Bob (Eric Byrne) and 14-year-old pregnant Katie (Terri Dumont) head off for their stolen holiday, the police are receiving many calls about a man with a gun threatening a school teacher, the competition guy, stealing pet birds, and the elderly couple trapped in the basement. As Robert and family get closer to the holiday, him and Angie seem to be drifting apart, especially when admits to cheating, and she decides that he should leave after the holiday's over. They get there, and are all satisfied, apart from Robert, who is pretty broken with the thought of leaving afterwards. In the end, after Katie has her baby with Robert's help, he is arrested (falsely, well, apart from the gun stuff), a few months later he is released from prison, and it seems things go back to normal. Also starring Frank Finlay as Mr. Heath, Snatch's Lennie James as Police Constable Alex, Jack Shepherd as Detective Inspecter, Mark Strong as Doug, Lorraine Ashbourne as Lil, Tameka Empson as Mo, and a short but humorous appearance by Ray Winstone as Mr. Marvel. It is interesting to see Lee Evans playing a more human character, a family that swears almost as much as The Osbournes, a fun film with all the issues and similarity to a film by Mike Leigh, and a good mix of films Falling Down and The Pursuit of Happiness. Good!

bob the moo Robert Martin is unemployed, a bit of a geezer and always on the scrounge – whether it be benefits or entering every competition he sees. When he loses out on a dream holiday he believes he is due, he flips out and uses a mate's gun to get a bit of respect from those he feels have wronged him just because of who he is. While the police follow up a series of bizarre reports of gun crime involving a Chav, Robert also finds out that a mate is coming out of prison with the knowledge that Robert slept with his wife. The pressure to get any holiday and get out of town with his dysfunctional family gets to him.Although it goes to extremes with the plot, this film is still an enjoyable look at a typically Chav family where you can hardly see the people past the shouting, drinking and generally antisocial behaviour. Grounds' script works well because he doesn't try to make us like them (because most of the UK don't) but he does enough with them to let us see them in good light and bad – both as products of their environments as well as causing their problems for themselves. This means the drama works well even though it is stretched at points by the action, because it is the characters that we are here for.As such it is the performances from Evans and Burke that make it work so well. Viewers moaning about how they should be funny and how disappointing the two were have simply missed the point. It is their convincing portrayal of a Chav couple in love that makes it work so well; they allow their characters to be convincingly rough but also give room for believable soul-searching whether it is spoken or just in quiet moments. They work well together and individually. Without the thought the rest of the family are Chav clichés, albeit convincing clichés. The support cast are good enough to judge the couple without it being too heavy handed or judgemental. I can understand why viewers moan and complain about how it isn't funny enough, because they have just listened to the marketing department that pitched this as a trashy comedy, but trust me when I say that the performances drive this film and make it as engaging as it is.Not the sort of thing that will travel well outside the UK but it is an effective drama that takes a fair and balanced look at a typical Chav family. Yes the plot has to go to extremes to move it all along but it is the characters where the film is and they are worth watching for not only because of how well written they are but also how good the serious work of Evans and Burke is.

sarahcyn This portrait of a deadbeat family is much more touching than I expected. Complaints that it crosses "genres" seem to me to be pointless. Its weakness is the plot...its strength is the pairing of Lee Evans and Kathy Burke; I have always that one of the strengths of Evans' loveable-nitwit stand-up routine is the charge of anger which runs through it. In The Martins he gives the anger free rein with scary effect. On the other hand, are we to believe in a man who can tie up two old people and leave them, for all he knows, to die of thirst and hunger in a cellar, yet will not raise a hand to defend himself against his righteously angry wife? It doesn't quite add up. But it's a really enjoyable and moving film with a life-affirming message, brought home most strongly in the wonderful childbirth scene. At least this movie challenges us to think about how little value we attach to people whom we perceive as too poor, stupid or ugly to be noticed.