The Goob (2014)

Really Surprised!

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Set during a hot summer we meet Goob who at sixteen has spent his time helping his mother out at her roadside café and farming pumpkins in the adjoining filed. Sounds a bit dull, but there is always the stock car racing and his mum falls for a womanising violent cliché of a man in the shape of Womack (Sean Harris '71' and 'Southcliffe') who likes to race his battered old motors. He and Goob do not get on and the inevitable friction develops with the very easily foreseen violence.There are asides to the story and some well observed teenage bonding and Elliot (Oliver Kennedy) makes for a very diverting interlude. Goob also starts to explore his own sexuality -in being attracted to one of the foreign seasonal workers – completing the coming of age theme.This is a film with a linear narrative and no back story. It relies on an immediate connection with the players and that is often very sparse as there is not much time to build empathy. That said the performances are all assured with only a few clichéd moments, and they mostly work given the context and the fact the Womack is a bully and therefore a child and a coward. All in all a well made independent film, that will not be to everyone's taste but has enough to ensure that we see more from writer and director Guy Myhill – recommended to fans of truly independent films.

Was pretty impressed by this, Sean Harris as usual is a nasty violent angry man, but does it so well you can't help but like the guy, he would scare me thats for sure if I came to blows, he's the kinda guy albeit small and weasel like that would fight to the death and never back down.The movie reminded me of some aspects of other movies, namely Sex & Lucia where she is riding on the motorbike, the director had most likely seen this movie, but did it well in all honesty and replaced Paz Vega with 'The Goob', and also The War Zone, Tim Roth's only directorial debut.The main character Goob did a great job for a first time job, and Oliver Kennedy was very good, and sure to see him in lots more.I would rate it a solid 6, maybe a 7 if you wanna see Sienna Guillory getting ass banged against a wall lol!

The Goob is one of those films that could have been great and probably should have been great but is eventually let down by not exploring it's full potential.Liam Walpole (Goob) puts in a very commendable performance (his first) and lends an 'un-naturalness' to his character. He is without a doubt a natural at his art and sometimes makes it impossible to take the audience's eyes off his character.Sean Harris (Goob's abusive stepfather) also puts in a very good shift and there are moments when you actually feel intimidated by his presence during the film.Goob's only let down is that it doesn't grab the audience and immerse it into it's world. Apart from certain moments, I mostly felt like i was watching Goob with a thin sheet between me and the world inside the film. I wish director Myhill had torn down this sheet and drowned me in the entire world of Goob.Recommended for Walpole and Harris' performances. Not recommended for lacking substance.

There is an awful lot of popcorn pap that comes out of Hollywood that doesn't deserve the attention given, so it is refreshing to see a film that has no fuss. The Goob is a wonderful film, very much in the tradition of Tyrannosaur and Fish Tank and tells a local story of life in the Fens. Some new faces and the lead is mesmerising and convincing as a young man on the edge of manhood.Very reminiscent of Tyrannosaur with some tough acting, characters and life in the raw, sometimes not pretty but recognisably real.Go see it, this is a good story, fantastic acting and the Brits have the best nutters!