A Yorkshire backdrop seems mandatory for a Simon Beaufoy film, this being the fifth consecutive script from the writer of The Full Monty set in the region. However, all concerned are presumably hoping This Is Not a Love Song fares better than his last two efforts, Blow Dry and The Darkest Light.
Beaufoy has also stepped back from the directorial chair, allowing regular collaborator Bille Eltringham sole credit. And an impressive job Eltringham does too, pulling together a high-speed video shoot that harnesses the strengths of the format - a nervy edge to the camerawork, a probing inspection of character, and the occasional radically inventive shot that no traditional camera could manage.
It is put to the service of a narrative that concerns two hard cases - one a young, recently released convict called Spike (Michael Colgan), the other the older but equally system-toughened Heaton (Kenny Glenaan). Running out of petrol during a trip through back-of-beyond country, they end up in a confrontation with a farmer. In an echo of the Tony Martin affair, violent death in a lonely farm is the outcome, and the locals band together to set up a manhunt.
The curious feature here, though, is that although the society-brutalised scallywag is a stock character of modern British cinema - in everything from Trainspotting to Lucky Break - the relentless realism of the camerawork almost forestalls any sympathy for the leads. These two, parlous though their situation is, are so dislikable that it's hard to spend the length of an entire feature film in their company. This may be the point, of course, but it doesn't really feel like it: much attention is devoted to excavating their fractious relationship to no very insightful extent. And with so much running time focused on the pair, Colgan and Glenaan resort to a hyperactive, workshoppy acting style that does the film even fewer favours. This Is Not a Love Song is a mixed bag, a testament to the ingenuity of its production as much as its dramatic impact.
· At Edinburgh Filmhouse tonight and Glasgow Film Theatre on Tuesday. Box office 0131-623 8030.
