A Room for Romeo Brass
| A Room for Romeo Brass | |
|---|---|
 UK Theatrical Poster | |
| Directed by | Shane Meadows |
| Produced by | George Faber |
| Written by |
Paul Fraser, Shane Meadows |
| Starring |
Andrew Shim Ben Marshall Paddy Considine Vicky McClure |
| Music by | Nick Hemming |
| Cinematography | Ashley Rowe |
| Edited by | Paul Tothill |
Production company | |
| Distributed by |
Momentum Pictures (UK) Alliance Atlantis (Canada) USA Films (US) |
Release dates | 23 August 1999 (UK) |
Running time | 90mins |
| Country |
United Kingdom Canada |
| Language | English |
A Room for Romeo Brass is a 1999 British comedy-drama film directed and written by Shane Meadows. It was co-written by frequent Meadows collaborator Paul Fraser. Filming began in September 1998.
The film stars Andrew Shim as Romeo Brass, Ben Marshall as Gavin Woolley and Paddy Considine as Morell. It marked the screen debut of McClure and Considine, the latter who went on to star in Meadows' 2004 film, Dead Man's Shoes. It was nominated in three categories at the 1999 British Independent Film Awards.
Plot
12-year-old boys Romeo Brass and Gavin Woolley have been best friends and neighbors for the majority of their lives. Gavin suffers from injuries to his back to subject him to bullying from other local boys to which Romeo quickly steps to defend him. On one particular day two boys confront Gavin and once again Romeo steps in and things turn violent, and since Gavin's injury prevents him from fighting he can't assist his friend. During the fight Gavin spots Morell and calls for him to help and Morell chases the two boys off and then drives Romeo and Gavin home. Upon meeting Morell Romeo's family quickly deduce his behavior as peculiar. Morell quickly develops an immediate attraction to Romeo's sister Ladine and seeks Romeo's advice to go out with her, Gavin takes the opportunity to play a trick on Morell that would result in him humiliating himself. Morell returns to the shop where Ladine works to apologize and ask her out again to which she accepts out of pity.
Morell encourages the boys to miss school one day and accompany him to the beach. When Romeo goes off to buy ice cream, Morell confronts Gavin about the prank and viciously threatens him if he ever tries to do it again. Romeo continues to spend time with Morell which distances him from Gavin who goes in for an operation to his back and distances himself from Morell's antics. Romeo also looks to Morell as a new father figure after his violent, estranged father Joe turns up back in his life which infuriates him. Morell begins to influence Romeo to behave more violently and convinces him to stay away from Gavin whilst continues to pursue Ladine who is greatly disturbed by his eccentric behavior. Whilst on a date Ladine sits in Morell's flat and makes a pass at her which she rebuffs. Angry and rejected, Morell tries to force Ladine to at least fool around with him after which she storms out.
Morell takes his frustrations out on Romeo displaying his bullying antics to him now and forces him out of his flat. The next day Morell forces Romeo into his van to follow Ladine and Morell beats a customer Ladine was flirting with close to death in front of Romeo and he runs away. Upset by Morell's actions Romeo goes to Gavin's house where he is comforted by Gavin's parents. Morell follows Romeo back to the Woolley's and starts to bully Gavin's dad Bill. Witnessing this Joe steps in to defend Bill and attacks Morell and forces him away. Romeo and Gavin reconcile their friendship and restore the lives back to normal.
Cast
- Andrew Shim as Romeo Brass
- Ben Marshall as Gavin "Knocks" Woolley
- Paddy Considine as Morell
- Vicky McClure as Ladine Brass
- Ladene Hall as Carol Brass
- Frank Harper as Joe Brass
- Julia Ford as Sandra Woolley
- James Higgins as Bill Woolley
- Bob Hoskins as Steven Laws
Soundtrack
- "A Message to You Rudy", written by Dandy Livingstone, performed by The Specials
- "O Maria", written and performed by Beck
- "Dead Melodies", written and performed by Beck
- "Corpses in Their Mouths", written by Ian Brown, Aziz Ibrahim, performed by Ian Brown
- "Jesus Walking", written and performed by Nick Hemming as The Leisure Society
- "Matty Groves", traditional arranged by Sandy Denny, Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, Simon Nicol, Dave Swarbrick, performed by Fairport Convention
- "Twenty-Five Miles", written by Edwin Starr, Johnny Bristol, Harvey Fuqua, Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Berns, performed by Edwin Starr
- "Move It On Over", written and performed by Hank Williams
- "Stolen Car (Beth Orton song)", written by Beth Orton, Sean Read, performed by Beth Orton
- "John Lee", written by Dave Swarbrick, performed by Fairport Convention
- "Everything's Gonna Be Alright", written by Andrew Loog Oldham, Dave Skinner, performed by P.P. Arnold
- "Don't Forget Your Shovel", written by Christie Hennessy, performed by Christy Moore
- "Civvy Street Fiasco", written by Stephen Lawrie, performed by Unisex
- "Fox in the Snow", written and performed by Belle & Sebastian
- "5,6,7,8", written by Steve Crosby, Barry Upton, performed by Steps
- "Colours", written and performed by Donovan
- "Listen Here", written and performed by Eddie Harris
- "If This Is Love", written by Gavin Clarke, performed by Sunhouse
- "Going Down", written by Ian Brown, John Squire, performed by The Stone Roses
- "After Midnight", written and performed by JJ Cale
- "Everywhere", written by Greg Trooper, Ed Griffin, performed by Billy Bragg
Awards
- 1999 British Independent Film Awards (nominated)
- Best British Film
- Best Director (Shane Meadows)
- Best Original Screenplay (Shane Meadows and Paul Fraser)