Film: 'The Angels' share' directed by Ken Loach

The Angels’ Share

Paul Brannigan, John Henshaw, Gary Maitland

Director: Ken Loach

Ken Loach’s cinematic career has always had realism as its driving force, along with his ability to present characters the audience can instantly warm to, despite whatever misgivings we might have about their morals, actions or motivations.

The Angels’ Share is no exception. While it’s mostly made of lighter stuff than the director’s more overtly political work (Riff-Raff, The Wind that Shakes the Barley), there are flashes of Loach’s trademark style that see even the film’s funnier interludes arriving with rough edges.

Here, the British filmmaker focuses his attention on a band of young Scottish misfits, all hauled up in front of the courts for misdemeanours which run the gamut from the frivolous to the frightening.