Looking For Eric Movie Review

Looking for Eric

Movie Review

Eric Bishop's life is in a multi-fronted funk. He's looking after two children from different marriages, neither of whom respect him, he hasn't seen or spoken to his first wife since he walked out on her and their child, and is involved in the car accident which opens the film. In other words, he is not a man who should derive a source of income from playing Russian Roulette.

The tone of the opening reel of Ken Loach's latest film is unrelentingly bleak. I settled into my seat expecting to sit through an offering similar in outlook to Nil By Mouth or Naked, a depressing tale of urban decay punctuated by acts of violence and antisocial behaviour. The eventual tone though is lighter than the first few scenes let on, and its a credit to director Ken Loach that there is little disconnect in the intervening narrative.

So, how does the film go from wrist-slitting depression to fist-pumping triumphalism? One word; EricCantona, which is actually two when your laptop doesn't suffer from a sticky space bar. Cantona appears to other Eric in a series of hallucenogenically induced late night visits in order to dole out life lessons and manly advice. This is the first English language film to star the former Manchester United midfielder in a major role and he showed a sense of humour before even setting foot in front of the camera by playing a version of himself which sometimes verges on pastiche.

Relief from the relentlessly downbeat early going also comes from other Eric's postmen colleagues. Led superbly by John Henshaw they are the other side of the comedy coin to Cantona. While the Frenchman's lines drip with subtlety, the postmen represent a Greek chorus of sorts. Both approaches work well, and stylistically the two emphasise the dissonance between other Eric's fantasy world and his crushing daily life.

Steve Evets is well cast as the emotionally worn out non-footballing Eric and turns in a performance which makes me wonder why I haven't heard of him before. He follows a long line of lay players chosen for their life experience rather than their acting credentials. Stephanie Bishop, playing Eric's ex-wife Lily is cast particularly well as the elegant vestige of a former, happier life. The rest of the cast do their jobs well, and never seem out of place.

The style is similar to earlier Loach offerings. As in Loach's last film, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, the violence is hyper real, the characters having dug themselves a shallow but meaningful hole, from which they could choose to jump or continue digging. Loach has wisely chosen not to overdo the ending. Hearts are unfrozen but not unbroken and tragedy is averted but there remains a potential for reprisal.

You might call Looking For Eric a film of two halves. It strains slightly to find its tonal footing, but ends up being an enjoyable waypoint on the road map of independent British film.

8/10