Somers Town **** (2008, Thomas Turgoose, Piotr Jagiello, Elisa Lasowski) – Classic Movie Review 539

For this 2008 heart-warming comedy drama, director Shane Meadows again casts his young star from This Is England, Thomas Turgoose. This time he’s playing a cocky Nottingham teenage runaway, Tomo, who finds himself alone and homeless in London.

Tomo befriends a shy Polish boy, Marek (Piotr Jagiello), whose dad’s working on the new King’s Cross Eurostar rail-link, and both kids fall for a French waitress, Maria (Elisa Lasowski).

Gloriously filmed in black-and-white (by director of photography Natasha Braier), with a funny, charming, appealing script by Paul Fraser, this is one of the best, most touching films about growing up. Turgoose and Jagiello are both marvellous.

Its short running time is its only frustration. After 71 minutes, you’ll be begging for more.

(C) Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Film Review 539 derekwinnert.com