Rent Sweet Sixteen (2002)

An electric & sensational Compston is the beating heart of this wild & gripping film - Sweet Sixteen review by TB

When it comes to ground-breaking/break-out debut performances, there are plenty of candidates: Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver, Meryl Streep in The Deer Hunter, Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting. I mean the list just goes on. And to that list can also be added Martin Compston in Sweet Sixteen. The difference, and what makes him so impactful here, is that he had absolutely no professional training. A potential career as a professional footballer cut short, he auditioned on a whim for Ken Loach & easily got the main role as Liam, a role he was seemingly born to play.

Liam lives with a group of friends on Greenock, a run-down council estate in Scotland. He runs a few scams & is a ducker & diver, just about getting away with it. However, his main driving force in his life is taking his mother Jean out of the hell she exists in, once she leaves prison on charges that were actually committed by Stan, her low-life boyfriend. Liam, along with his unpredictable best friend Pinball, start to deal drugs as a way to buy a new place for them to escape to once Jean is released.

Mentioning Trainspotting earlier, Sweet Sixteen shares many of the same strands of DNA. The most obvious comparison is the poor Scottish setting along with the theme of drugs/addiction. However for me, the main thing the two films share is an incredible electricity & energy. The screen crackles with vibrancy & the sheer drive of Liam's energy as he single-mindedly sprints towards this impossible dream of being able to take Jean out of the life that she will be going back to, namely an endless cycle of intimidation & control at the hands of the repugnant Stan.

As is the same with all Loach films, the majority of the cast are actually locals who add the incredible diversity & authenticity to the screen which you simply could not cast/recreate with professional actors. Even in small parts, they make a profound impact.

For example, Annmarie Fulton as Liam's sister Chantelle is in many ways his true mother, raising him as well as her own son, who she is adamant will not grow up to have the same horrible life they have been forced to exist in.

If there is a misfire here, as well as a massive frustration of mine, it is the writing of Jean's character. Effectively, she only has 2 proper scenes, but even those are quite short in length, and you never are given much of an insight as to why this becomes the driving force of a young man who has no other discipline or goals in his life. This feeling is further compounded by a key character's comments about how his family life really was growing up.

But this film belongs to Martin Compston. This is an incredible, searing debut & his ability to not only make us empathise but also root for Liam is amazing. Rather than just another young tearaway or NED (non educated delinquent,) we see & feel how he does. This is a boy who will take multiple beatings & still keep going at his attackers, such is the spirit inside him. And although the film ends on a potentially tragic note, I still feel the power of redemption that could happen.

And huge praise must also be given to Loach, as well as Paul Laverty for directing/writing this film. Loach has rarely been better than here, fully utilising the locations as well as the locals to make this film a searing snapshot into poverty & desperation, with a hope coursing through.

Wonderful viewing