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The shadows of two Billies – Liar and Elliot – loom large over this modest tale of a small-town dreamer (Andy Black) so desperate to leave his boring backwater with his posh totty girlfriend (Jennifer Bryden) he takes the wrong side in a local miners’ strike.

Though Andy Mark Simpson’s drama is saddled with clunky dialogue and Corrie-level acting, its evocation of time and place (’70s Northumberland) is canny enough to stand comparison with coming-of-age Brit-flicks like SoulBoy and Cemetery Junction.

The lensing’s another boon, if only to highlight the hero’s hideous taste in jumpers.

Neil Smith is a freelance film critic and writer who contributes regularly to Heat, SFX and Screen International. He's a long-time member of the London Film Critics’ Circle and was a contributing editor at Total Film for many years.