Dek (Rhys Ifans) is the socially awkward manager of a franchise chain garage in Nottingham, England, called the Clutch Hutch. His job brings a bit of security to his housemate, Shirley (Shirley Henderson), who is trying to raise her daughter Marlene (Finn Atkins) on her own since her husband abandoned them years ago. Carol (Kathy Burke), her best friend, is estranged from Charlie (Ricky Tomlinson), who wears cowboy hats and sings country-and-western songs in various clubs. All three of them are shocked when Dek proposes to Shirley on a daytime TV talk show. Caught completely off-guard, all she can do is say "no." When Jimmy (Robert Carlyle), her former husband, sees this melodrama on television, he realizes that Shirley might still love him. After double-crossing some unsavory colleagues in Glasgow, he heads off to reclaim his woman.
Shane Meadows directs this English comedy, clearly wanting us to see it as a modern day Western complete with two men battling each other and trying to win the day. For most of the characters in this appealing drama, love is a messy affair that leaves them more confused than ever. Shirley feels beholden to Dek and is impressed with his closeness to Marlene, but she doesn’t really love him. When Jimmy returns to town with his swagger and wily ways, she soon succumbs to his charm. She wants to be swept off her feet like she was when they were young.
Having been shamed in public by Shirley, Dek is determined not to give any ground to Jimmy whom he views as nothing more than a lowlife criminal. In one of the many honest moments in the film, Jimmy tries to impress his daughter by whistling the same ditty he did when she was an infant. “I’m twelve years old,” Marlene tells him bluntly, ending any of his fantasies that winning her affections will be an easy matter. Carol, who is Jimmy’s foster sister, loses patience with him when she recalls how every time she tried to help him in the past, trouble was the payoff.
These scruffy characters all try to make sense of the changes swirling around them. The climactic square-off between Dek and Jimmy is refreshingly unlike predictable Western finales. Here comedy holds sway rather than the violence which lurks in the background of the entire film after making an early appearance. What a treat that is!
