Soft Lad is the latest piece of work from Director Leon Lopez.You may remember Leon from his days on shows such as Brookside and Hollyoaks and after directing a couple of shorts, he makes his feature film directorial debut with Soft Lad, a film that not only did he direct but also wrote, edited, produced and was the sole camera operator on. Quite a feat in itself and one where you could forgive the occasional mistake that may occur throughout the feature. With the exception of a couple of moments in the sound department, there were no such mistakes and in my view Leon deserves the highest level of praise for the excellent editing of the film. So what is the film about? It's basically a love story but not your normal run of the mill love story. Jules and Jane are a happily married couple with one daughter living in a nice house in a nice area and in decent jobs. All appears good but Jules is hiding a terrible secret from his wife. He is having an affair with Jane's brother David. No longer able to handle lying to his family and in particular his sister, David decides to end the affair and instead turns to new love Sam. David's feelings for Sam soon turn to love and life appears to be pretty good for him. Jules however must wrestle with his conscience and his feelings for David. Putting his marriage at risk he must decide whether or not to come clean about the affair or accept that it is over and move on. A simple check up at the hospital changes everything. Who is affected? Well you will have to watch the movie to find but believe me it results in one of the best scenes in the movie and one that though quite intense, also has one of the funniest lines. For a first time feature film director and with a modest budget of approx £17,000, Leon Lopez has done an exceptional job and after seeing what he can do with such a small budget, one wonders what he could do with a budget of millions. No one performance can be singled out as all the cast members give outstanding performances. Daniel Brocklebank (Coronation Street, Doctors, Emmerdale) as Jules makes you really believe he is struggling to accept his homosexuality yet also manages to pull off a dangerous side of Jules's personality. There is one scene where Daniel is delivering his lines to Stacey (Laura Ainsworth) and with such a look on his face that I actually believed his character was going to attack her. Suzanne Collins (Brookside) as Jane is superb as the totally oblivious wife who believes she is the cause of Jules's increasing moods and stands out in the life changing scene. Jonny Labey (Eastenders) as David is a pure revelation in this film and definitely an actor destined for more. You really feel for his character even though what he has done is wrong. Having watched him in Eastenders, I believe that it is in this film that he shines and acts his socks off.
