Movies

I really don't get this film, or why it rates so highly. The acting and directing are just dreadful. Meadows' style seems to be to get a bunch of actors in a room with no script and tell them not to act.The story, such as it is, bears little resemblance to the England I knew in the early 80s. I guess it's just a self-indulgent trip down memory lane for a guy who must have had a seriously screwed-up childhood.There is nothing positive to say about this, and anybody who thinks differently must be deluded. This film is not in any way about England nor is it a piece of art or entertainment. Why anybody outside of Meadows' family would want to watch it is beyond me.

This film is a well acted and directed drama, with neighborhood storytelling which perfectly renders the atmosphere of the early 80's. The plot is serious (deadly serious at the end) and funny at the same time and features excellent performances and a very suitable location. The working class suburbs are very well depicted and details of these sad lives are chronicled by an expert hand, who shows a good knowledge of the subject. Everything's centered on a rowdy and affectionate skinhead gang; when the social crisis deepens and the skinhead subculture turns a darker corner the story turns into a tragedy. "This is England" is terribly tough but the moving neo-realist approach as well as Combo's stunning performance make it one of the best British films of recent times.

One of the best and most heartbreaking English movies I've seen! I will never forget what it meant to me the very first time I saw it nor every time I kept revisiting it. Perfect.