Stars: Martin Compston, Annmarie Fulton, William Ruane, Michelle Abercromby

Director: Ken Loach

Summary: A Scottish teenager, whose mother is in prison, tries to raise the money for a home so that when she comes out she will be safe from the likes of her former boyfriend.

Using a cast of unknown actors and newcomers, Ken Loach fashions another gritty social drama in SWEET SIXTEEN. In his acting debut, Martin Crampston plays Liam, whose mother is about to be released from prison on his 16th birthday. Liam recognises that the only chance for the pair of them to escape the poverty of their surroundings is to move away from the Greenock council estate they live on. However, to realise this dream he will need to get hold of some money. Roping in his friends to help, he sets out on a series of increasingly dangerous schemes to raise cash and soon finds himself out of his depth.

WIN DVDs by rating this DVD

Average User Rating:

WIN DVDS by being amongst the first to review this DVD. Reviewing DVDs earns you bonus entries and lets you WIN DVDs!Please login before reviewing this DVD. If you're a new user, register for free and enter to WIN FREE DVDs!

Released in 2002, Sweet Sixteenrepresents Ken Loach's finest and most successful work in years. Set in Greenock, a small Glaswegian suburb whose magnificent surrounding landscape contrasts with the urban deprivation of its grey streets and tenements, it tells the story of 15-year-old Liam (Martin Compston), an entrepreneurial young scamp who flogs knocked-off cigarettes in pubs with his best mate Pinball. However, determined to wean his imprisoned mother off her drug-dealing boyfriend Stan, he graduates to selling hard drugs for big-time gangster Tony. He's unscrupulous yet selfless, happy to resort to crime to create a new life for his mum and reunite her with his older sister Chantelle. But reality will sorely test his naive illusions.

Sweet Sixteen, scripted by Paul Laverty, is quintessential Loach, exciting tremendous sympathy for a character whom in real life you might distantly regard as a contemptible scumbag, without romanticising either him or his lifestyle and upbringing. Yet there's real and touching pathos in his deep-seated need to restore his fractured, domestic background: touchingly and pathetically he regards the tiny £6,000 riverside caravan he's earmarked for his mum as "paradise". By the end of the movie, you truly want to hug the poor knife-wielding smack dealer. The cast of (mostly) unknowns all turn in sterling, authentic performances but Martin Compston rightly took plaudits for his unaffected, deeply engaging portrayal of Liam.

On the DVD:Sweet Sixteenon disc offers numerous extras. Subtitles including English may prove necessary even for English speakers to cut through the foggy Glaswegian accents. In the commentary, Loach slams the British Board of Film Censors for their "ludicrous" decision to award the film an 18 certificate. Meanwhile, a short documentary, Sweet Success, reflects on how the film wowed Cannes and the impact it's had on the life of its star, the 17-year-old plucked from obscurity in a mass audition who gave up a promising career as a professional footballer to take up acting instead. --David Stubbs

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio Commentary - 1. Ken Loach - Director, Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer, 2. TV Spots, Documentary - 1. SWEET SUCCESS, Outtakes
Year:	2002
Release Date:	April 7, 2003
Runtime:	102 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	D 094636
Keywords:	General, Sweet, Sixteen, Drama
Genre:	Drama