I saw this film at it's launch at Ealing Studios in London, back in 1997. I went to the screening, not sure what to expect, but found it fun, thought-provoking and a little uncomfortable. Script writers Jonathan Carr and Sally McLean dealt with the subject matter in a practical, almost offhand way, giving a sense of being in the middle of it, but from an impartial viewpoint. The death of one of the characters was handled without over-sentimentality, yet the effect on the other characters was looked at in a realistic and sympathetic way.
None of the characters were perfect people - they all had flaws, which gave the sense that we were watching real people. All begin the film being very self-involved, but after the dramatic turn of events take place, each character is forced at some moment to take stock of who they are and how they view their place in the world. Not all the characters make changes to their outlook, which was again a nice touch and saved the film from being too pat and simple.
The cast were superb, all of them giving strong performances, particularly Rebecca Nunn, Joanna Goodchild, James Buckley and Sally McLean. David Hankinson was under-used, but excellent in the scenes that he had. All up, it was a cohesive and well-supported ensemble performance.
There were a few technical problems - the director and DOP sometimes didn't seem to know how to handle the dialogue scenes in the most interesting of ways, yet shone in the surreal nightclub and London street sequences. The sound slipped occasionally, but only seemed to add to the overall feel of the audience being a "fly on the wall", witnessing events that they shouldn't really be seeing. Editing was excellent, and made up for any technical glitches that may have occurred.
The ending was refreshing in the sense that it didn't present all the answers in one neat package. The audience was left feeling that the characters would, for the most part, be okay, but there was still some issues to resolve. This was a welcome change, as too many films that deal with drugs as their subject matter offer the film makers' opinions like it's gospel, with a clear attitude, but this was presented realistically - there are no easy answers to the problem, or the problems drugs cause.
Overall, I really enjoyed the film. It was a journey into friendship and relationships - not always happy - that gave a solid insight into the complexities of surviving as a young adult in a not-so-sympathetic modern world.
