Nick Knowles is best known in the UK as the presenter on the various National Lottery quiz shows and as a staple ingredient of the BBC's daytime TV schedule fronting various lifestyle shows. Apparently he also fancies himself as a writer, and somehow or other, one of his scripts has managed to get the green-light and released as 'Golden Years' with the extra tag-line 'Grand Theft OAP'. It came and went from UK cinema screens without any fanfare, and isn't likely to get any larger exposure now it is available on home video.
Bernard Hill is hardly a headline actor (I recognised him only as Captain Smith of the Titanic in James Cameron's 1997 film of the same name) - his most famous work was probably 'Boys From the Blackstuff'. Una Stubbs starred with Cliff Richard in the film 'Summer Holiday' and was Aunt Sally in 'Worzel Gummidge'. Simon Callow was in 'Four Weddings & A Funeral'. In 1966 Virginia McKenna starred in 'Born Free', and like most of the cast, her career has seen better days. I guess there aren't many good acting roles for pensioners these days. 'Golden Years' tries to be a comedy but never really succeeds.
Sloppy editing - or writing - I'm not sure which, means there are plot holes you could drive a tank through. What happens to Alun Armstrong's character at the end of the movie I have no idea as he just seems to disappear, and the timing of the funeral before the big heist makes no sense at all. Unless I missed something, a character dies and is buried within two days, and that just isn't realistic. We're led to believe the characters get away Scot-free with their heist, but how can that be so when Brad Moore's character clearly had them bang-to-rights just before the final climax? Suddenly nothing seemed to make sense and it is full of unanswered questions. Besides anything else, are we to believe he went out to a caravan dealer with several wads of sealed £50 notes and paid for a top-of-the-range model in hard cash? Wouldn't something like that arouse suspicion? Wouldn't the brand-new notes be traceable by their security numbers? The police would be knocking at his door in a heartbeat. I think Nick Knowles should stick to presenting, as he clearly isn't much good at writing.
My advice is to wait for this one to hit Freeview and air on Film4. You're not missing anything by buying it on DVD. I can't believe they even got 'Bargain Hunt's real-life auctioneer Philip Serell to basically play himself in a cameo. Nothing about this film was even remotely credible. Even the 'Care Home from Hell' at the beginning was laughable, and not in a good way, and that's before I get to talking about the idea of an 'NHS Postcode Lottery'. It's the sort of right-wing nonsense you read in the 'Daily Mail' that is inevitably not true. I really didn't rate this film much at all. 5/10 is being kind.
Bernard Hill is hardly a headline actor (I recognised him only as Captain Smith of the Titanic in James Cameron's 1997 film of the same name) - his most famous work was probably 'Boys From the Blackstuff'. Una Stubbs starred with Cliff Richard in the film 'Summer Holiday' and was Aunt Sally in 'Worzel Gummidge'. Simon Callow was in 'Four Weddings & A Funeral'. In 1966 Virginia McKenna starred in 'Born Free', and like most of the cast, her career has seen better days. I guess there aren't many good acting roles for pensioners these days. 'Golden Years' tries to be a comedy but never really succeeds.
Sloppy editing - or writing - I'm not sure which, means there are plot holes you could drive a tank through. What happens to Alun Armstrong's character at the end of the movie I have no idea as he just seems to disappear, and the timing of the funeral before the big heist makes no sense at all. Unless I missed something, a character dies and is buried within two days, and that just isn't realistic. We're led to believe the characters get away Scot-free with their heist, but how can that be so when Brad Moore's character clearly had them bang-to-rights just before the final climax? Suddenly nothing seemed to make sense and it is full of unanswered questions. Besides anything else, are we to believe he went out to a caravan dealer with several wads of sealed £50 notes and paid for a top-of-the-range model in hard cash? Wouldn't something like that arouse suspicion? Wouldn't the brand-new notes be traceable by their security numbers? The police would be knocking at his door in a heartbeat. I think Nick Knowles should stick to presenting, as he clearly isn't much good at writing.
My advice is to wait for this one to hit Freeview and air on Film4. You're not missing anything by buying it on DVD. I can't believe they even got 'Bargain Hunt's real-life auctioneer Philip Serell to basically play himself in a cameo. Nothing about this film was even remotely credible. Even the 'Care Home from Hell' at the beginning was laughable, and not in a good way, and that's before I get to talking about the idea of an 'NHS Postcode Lottery'. It's the sort of right-wing nonsense you read in the 'Daily Mail' that is inevitably not true. I really didn't rate this film much at all. 5/10 is being kind.