Once Upon A Time In The Midlands (2002)

"My wife and I had an argument over whether or not I should have a vasectomy so we said we'd let the kids decide. I lost 13 - 12."

Shane Meadows is one of the most distinct and original film directors working today and what makes this even better is the fact that he is British. His most recognised work, 2006's 'This is England', is a raw, brutal yet highly mature look at the effects of racism, nationalism and skin-head culture within a group of friends. Two years earlier, Meadows made his best film, the excellent 'Dead Man's Shoes', which goes down as the greatest revenge film I've ever witnessed, a film that packs such a strong emotional punch. His 1999 effect 'A Room For Romeo Brass' isn't bad either but in amongst these he directed his spaghetti western 'Once Upon A Time In The Midlands.'

One morning Jimmy, played by Robert Carlisle, wakes up to the sound of 'Face to Feltz' on the television (a programme similar to say The Jeremy Kyle or Jerry Springer show). On the programme is his ex-girlfriend, who is asked by her partner Dek (Rhys Ivans) to marry him. She declines but, realising he wants her back, Jimmy travels down to the Midlands from Glasgow in an attempt to reignite their former love for one another.

Meadows call Once Upon A Time In The Midlands a spaghetti western and by doing this he is basically declaring his love for the all-time great Western director Sergio Leone (director of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Once Upon A Time In The West). The problem is that Meadows doesn't seem to go all out into making this a true spaghetti western. OK, so we have the mimicked film title, and we have a typically western score, good versus evil, a standoff and even a character who occasionally dresses as a cowboy, but this is about it. Present is also some really impressive photography of the exterior of the bingo hall at nightfall, and this two echoes the classic Leone westerns but for the majority of the film Meadows' holds back on going all out for a true spaghetti western, and I have to question why he does this.

Does the film succeed? Yes in so far as it is a nice, enjoyable, little film with typically Meadows-style, larger-than-life, working-class characters and has a brilliantly British ensemble cast including Kathy Burke, Ricky Tomlinson, Robert Carlisle, Rhys Ivans, Vanessa Feltz, Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer(did you spot them?!) and Meadows regular Andrew Shim (who is technically American but came to Britain when he was very young) . Does it succeed as a spaghetti western? No not really, it just strays too far wide of the western-oeuvre and doesn't really attempt to force itself to be one. Is it Meadows' best film? Far from it, in fact Meadows himself would later go on to express his own disappointment in it, but if you love This is England and Dead Man's Shoes, like I do, then you will probably find something to smile about here.

Rating: 6/10