Among Giants *** (1998, Pete Postlethwaite, Rachel Griffiths, James Thornton, Lennie James, Andy Serkis) – Classic Movie Review 1284

Director Sam Miller’s 1998 film is a likeable, moving and highly charged love story based around the strange lives and dangerous passions of a group of pylon painters on the Yorkshire moors.

Pete Postlethwaite plays Ray, hired by a manager as the foreman of the rag-tag crew of handymen cowboys on a dodgy, off-the-books contract to paint all the power towers in a 15-mile stretch of high-tension wires outside Sheffield. Ray’s all-men crew are buddies, with Ray close friends with Steve (James Thornton), a young, brash, discontented wannabee Don Juan.

Rachel Griffiths plays the young, alluring, aloof Australian drifter Gerry, a tough woman with a spirit of adventure and mountain climbing skills, who wants a job. Against the advice of the others who don’t want a woman on the job, Ray hires her. She then soon engages Ray’s adoration and, as their fervent romance unfolds, the older man is forced to compete against Steve for Gerry’s heart.

It’s a good-hearted film, well written by Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar-nominated writer of The Full Monty (1997) and Oscar-winning screenwriter of Slumdog Millionaire (2008). But, though it shares The Full Monty’s similar grounding in northern English locations and culture, it is not nearly as amusing or as successful, nor in its class. And yet, it is still worthwhile as a moving, highly charged drama.

Also in the cast are James Thornton, Lennie James, Andy Serkis, Rob Jarvis, Alan Williams, Emma Cunniffe, Steve Huison, Sharon Bower, David Webber, Alvin Blossom, Sam Wilkinson and Jo Wilkinson.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1284

Link to Derek Winnert’s home page for more film reviews: http://derekwinnert.com/