It seems we’re never far away from seeing a Ken Loach film in theaters, with the director consistently churning out a film every two years for the lion’s share of his career. Perhaps churned is a poor choice of words though, because it’s rare that a Ken Loach film receives anything but praise – the only variable seems to be whether they are good or great. Loach’s last effort, “Route Irish,” was one of the good but not great ones, and from the first look we’ve had at his latest feature we’re tempted to say this looks like it may be of a similar quality.
The first trailer has hit the web for “The Angels' Share,” starring newcomer Paul Brannigan alongside a few more recognizable faces including Roger Allam (“V For Vendetta”) and John Henshaw (“Looking For Eric”). The film follows Brannigan’s Robbie; an ex-offender who pledges to provide a better life for his newborn son than the tragic one he has had. While on a community service program at a whiskey distillery, he and his fellow ex-offenders decide that turning to drink – but not in the conventional sense – may offer them a chance at redemption that could change their lives.
Now while we’re predicting this will be another good (but not great) Loach movie, that’s in no way to say that we weren’t impressed by the trailer. It looks like this could be another sweet, funny, and moving film from Loach, but when a director sets the bar so high you have to judge each on their relative merits. “The Angels' Share” will be released in the UK on June 1st, and as ever with the filmmaker, it's highly likely the film will premiere at Cannes a few weeks beforehand. There's no embed right now, but you can check it out over at The Guardian.