247

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247 ★★ 1997 (R)

Title is local Midlands English slang for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And in this case it refers to the boredom suffered by the aimless, unemployed youth who live in the local housing estates in Thatcher's depressed ‘80s England. Middleaged exboxer Alan Darcy (Hoskins in a sincere and sweet performance) decides to help the lads by reviving the amateur boxing club which saved him in his youth. Although it seems to work for a time, things slide downward as, eventually, does the distraught Darcy himself. Meadows' feature directorial debut. 96m/B VHS . GB Bob Hoskins, Danny Nussbaum, James Hooton, Darren O. Campbell, Mat Hand, Jimmy Hynd, Justin Brady, Karl Collins, Johann Myers, Anthony Clarke, Bruce Jones, Frank Harper, Pamela Cundell; D: Shane Meadows; W: Shane Meadows, Paul Fraser; C: Ashley Rowe; M: Neil MacColl, Boo Hewerdine.