A complex and moving drama. It can't be British, can it?

Attending a funeral is a good time to reassess your life, particularly if you're in a film that's set in a poignant English seaside town. Gay restaurateur Stuart (David Coffey) has drowned, and his friends are at his wake. Shamed by the way he "lived life to the full", they sit pondering the past while the cold sea breeze feels up the shopfronts. Naturally, it's not all great news.

Writer-directors Tom Hunsinger and Neil Hunter's second feature is a complex and moving piece of work which interweaves the same events from three different points of view. Brother-in-law Dan (Bill Nighy) is a buffoonlike farmer on the verge of an affair, Stuart's boyfriend Nick (Tom Hollander) is all at sea, and Tim (Douglas Henshall) is wondering about marrying a shopkeeper.

It's the best British films in ages, which comes as a shock after Hunsinger and Hunter's lame debut, Boyfriends, in 1996. JC 05 August 02

The Lawless Heart goes on national release on 29 June 02.

useful link: www.lawlessheart.co.uk

Film Four:
...an intelligent, multi-layered work that repays the effort...
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IO Film:
...a depth of story and character, unseen in your typical romantic comedy drama...
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