This one popped up on my trawl through Amazon Prime and I
was surprised that it was so low profile. The film doesn’t have a Wikipedia page
and just over 1000 ratings on IMDb. I gave it a go, and it was a decent slice
of life. I doubt it will live long in the memory, but it was an engaging 90
minutes with plenty to like.
The film is set on a Bristol council estate in the 1980’s.
You are never in doubt of when the film is set as the soundtrack is an 80s
jukebox with Nik Kershaw and Adam Ant getting an airing alongside Kim Wilde and
virtually every other act with big hair that you can think of.
We open with a young lad poaching fish and easily evading a
Keystone Cops style policeman. He sells his catch for £2 so we know this isn’t
exactly going to high end criminal antics. The lad, Steven, works at a butcher
and gets a quick lesson in dipping the till from a colleague. Steven is happy
to comply as he’s saving for a motorbike and is keen to slip a few quid to his
Mum, Sally Phillips, despite a stereotypical deadbeat Dad trying to grab some
cash for the pub.
Steven gets the cash for his motorbike and shows it off to
friends and some impressed girls for about two minutes before it gets nicked.
The remainder of the film is reminiscent of ‘Bicycle Thieves’ as Steven tries
to get back his property.
In his quest he enlists the help of his older brother, who is
on probation, and a friendly black man who gets some racial abuse but is the man to
know for weapons and guns.
The trail soon leads to a dodgy family who supply drugs and
motor parts – will Steven exact revenge for the theft of his motorbike or will he choose
another path away from the endless cycle of beatings, retribution and time in
jail?
I quite enjoyed this film, but it was certainly Shane
Meadows-lite. The council scheme looked a bit polished, and all the players had
immaculate 70’s clothes – the type that has the viewers saying, ‘I had that jacket’!
The cars also were too pristine – everyone was driving a showroom quality 80’s
classic. No doubt these were borrowed from some enthusiasts, but none of them
looked appropriate for our mostly grubby cast.
David Perkins did OK in the lead, but I wasn’t really buying
his moral quandaries, his outrage or his eventual decision when it was time to
choose a path. Of the cast only Sally Phillips was a known face, with the rest
probably recent stage school graduates where they honed their perfect, if unconvincing
estate accents.
The setting were good and I liked how the film played over a
few days in an idyllic summer, almost like the main character was recounting
events from a rosier future.
The stakes were pretty low throughout and despite drugs,
guns and beatings being the seeming norm, I never really felt the presence of a
lot of threat or danger. It was an enjoyable film, but I wanted to like it
more and it’s a pity that it fell short of its possibilities.
I would also say that the title ‘The Fence’ is poor and
clearly a successful attempt to get on this blog. The fence in question is a receiver
of stolen goods, but that player has a very small part in the overall dynamic
of the film. The focus of the film is Steven and how the choices he makes will
affect his future. The title should have been ‘Steven and the Cloneasaurus’.
THE Tag Line : Estate Mismanagement - 62%
