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Fantastic!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

The title of this film is a very simplistic black and white understatement to a richly colored piece of art. The subject matter, alcoholism, and the toll it takes on society, it's children and young adults is approached and played out with great subtlety and artistry- this is no public education piece that preaches at the viewer. Rather, it seduces the viewer with excellent directing, fine acting, rich color, poetically minimalistic dialog and a great soundtrack. I was surprised to read that this was not in an accessible format- the copy I rented plays on U.S. video devices and computers with no problem at all. My only disappointment with this movie is the lack of an available soundtrack for purchase.

I really don't understand how come some people trash this movie! There is nothing wrong with: the acting is quite good, the direction is quite fresh, the music rules and the story is reasonably good.Yes, there are same scenes taken from Kubrick's work and the whole story is NOT original, but the setting in Scotland's capital is quite nice. I was pleasantly surprised by the actors,quite natural acting helped probably by a story that is very familiar to some of them:)Overall this film is well worth it and would expand your horizon of good European movies.A well deserved 7/10.

You can often tell a movie didn't turn out like it should by the heavy use of a narrator. This film features this device throughout. Richard Jobson not entirely content to write direct and even fund some of this film adds to his credits by reading excerpts of his own semi- autobiographical writing which combined with some pretty editing manages to gloss over what is a dull depressing tale which he must be mistaking for genuine art-house. Kevin McKidd puts in a good performance. Everyone else is okay.Budget constraints meant that all scenes are shot in daylight though most are obviously meant to be at night, though if you know serious alcoholics they mainly operate in the day so for me it adds a touch of realism.The funniest part of this film is a waitress who fails to age a single day in the 20 odd years that elapse between her appearances - a more extreme version of the problem McKidd has who goes from 18 to 30 without changing more than his clothes. Bless.

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs As a young boy,Frankie (Kevin McKidd) idolises his father,until he discovers him to be a philandering p*sshead.Years later,he's formed a violence gang with three of his mates,terrorizing pubs and record shops with equal disdain.But then he finds love and finds his faith in life being redeemed and decides to turn his back on his old ways and start a new life.But then,he finds turning away from what you know is not very easy at all.The film is shot in a style and presentation that I wasn't expecting it to be.The style of the story unravelled in a way I wasn't expecting either.But,if these are the provisos for enduring such an excellent film as 16 Years of Alcohol,I'll happily accept them.Everything about the film just comes together brilliantly and perfectly.The script is fantastic,carried by lead star McKidd with a sobering,haunting presence and delivery making astute observations about life and especially the relevance of 'hope.'The film plays some clever homage to ones that have gone before it,such as,most prominently,A Clockwork Orange and Enter the Dragon.Frankie's story is extremely engaging,as we follow him down his path from a happy,idealistic young boy to a disillusioned young man who can't identify love to anything and can only see the hard,grainy reality of life and accordingly decides to follow suite,onto an older and more mature man,hardened by the realities of life but more adhered to them and functioned to deal with them more knowingly,only for it all to tragically come crashing down around him for one silly mis-understanding.If a film like Trainspotting could have made it as big as it did,with a far superior script it's hard to see why this couldn't.But maybe this should be kept apart from a mainstream audience and kept firmly stuck in it's art-house roots so that it can be appreciated by those who truly can.It really is a fantastic experience,the best film I've seen in ages and one I'd whole-heartedly recommend you to see.*****