The Virtues

[BitOfFun]

My heart is breaking already

I think this is going to be brilliant- I love Stephen Graham.

I love anything that Shane Meadows does, particularly as he does so much in Sheffield where I live. This is England the TV programmes were all filmed around the estate where I lived when i first got divorced. It's great being able to pick out places you know.

Loved it, the hour went so fast. But then I love Shane Meadows whole style of writing and delivery. And could watch Steven Graham in anything.

The dialogue, settings and characterisation are very realistic

As I watched this, I could have seen similar scenes playing out in the town centre pubs and kebab shops of my town

I thought the actor playing his son was brilliant. Hard to believe he was acting when he suddenly welled up and hugged his dad. And Stephen Graham is wonderful.

I really liked how slow it was. Makes a change to watch something with a bit of breathing space. I watched the new Russell t Davies thing just before it and the pace was so manic, the set up so complex that it was a relief to watch a scene where the writer gets that watching an alcoholic drink the first pint of a very long night is interesting enough.

He could take the mum to court to stop her emigrating with his son. Would love to know the backstory as the son's mother seems quite posh and Stephen Graham looks like he doesn't have a pot to piss in. Wonder if he used to live in that house or maybe they had a brief relationship conceiving the son?

No - one does shattered to pieces like Stephen Graham. Felt almost intrusive watching it. Superb.

Is it improvised?

Reminds me a lot of This is England.

Stephen Graham is compelling but..I dunno...seems to overdo it a bit.

Stephen Graham was excellent, he's so believable. I'm not a fan of anything by Shane Meadows though, find them all quite samey and contrived (I know this is an unpopular opinion!)

I love Shane Meadows studf it all just seem so real. The cafe, the bank scene even in the pub down to the furniture. I love it. Stephen Graham is always a great watch too. I haven't quite fathomed out what it's about yet though.

I watched it tonight. So far loving it.

Shane meadows has this incredible talent for observation. He observes human behaviour in minute detail and collates everything he sees and has experienced (because there is definitely real life experience in what he does) into these spot on portrayals of every day people. I think he must spend hours upon hours just sitting people watching. It’s amazing the detail he manages to put in to his work.

I also loved the slow pace. It allows you to properly take in all of what’s going on rather than having to move on to concentrate on the next scene or dialogue. It’s quite uncomfortable at times because it feels like youre just standing watching a man having a cry in his own home. You feel like you shouldn’t be there. That’s good tv, that is!

Stephen Graham is fantastic but I think he’s fantastic in whatever he does.

Will definitely watch next week.

DH and I were laughing at Skype Lord.

Did anyone see the episode of The Street that Stephen Graham also did where he plays an alcoholic that meets his Down syndrome son for the time and something devastating happens? Is very very similar to this!

Agree with the detailed observational content.

Shane Meadows' work is rarely an easy watch.

This is very dark, though, with no light relief (apart from the Sinbad scene, perhaps).

Reminds me a bit of Boys from the Blackstuff.

I could barely watch the pub scene where he’s spending all that money to make himself feel better and feel part of something. Shattering but compelling watch.

Can't wait to watch this.. keeping it for the weekend. So I'm hopping off this post in case I see any spoilers

Agree family. It was so sad and you knew exactly how it would play out before it did

I'm at the pub scene. I can barely watch. Hard viewing.

Difficult viewing but brilliant.

I actually felt so sad for him in the pub scene, it made me well up. He's such a good actor and in interviews always very funny & charming too.

I agree he's brilliant. I've only really seen him in This is England (one of my favourites) and this.
It feels like the same kind of feeling as This is England almost?
But of course it's both Stephen Graham and Shane Meadows

I just couldn't believe she was taking his son away from him

I couldn’t work out if she was taking the son to Australia because of something he had done. She said something like “you know this is for the best” and there were a couple of other comments that made me think that but I can’t remember them now. Or are they just going as a family because they wanted to try a new lifestyle?

I think they were just going cos they wanted to

Purpleme12 me neither I’m single and can’t imagine taking my Son away like that. It would be devastating for both of them.

I found it so hard to watch the scene in the bedroom because he was trying so hard to make it ok for his Son. He didn’t put a foot wrong. Whatever had happened in the past, they could obviously get on enough now to sit round a table together.

The whole of the section in the Pub had me sick with nerves: that constant feeling something was going to kick off, an undercurrent of violence.

Ah Shane Meadows is just spot on in his observations. I think this is looking promising. He'll have much more scope to develop characters in a tv series than a 90 min film.

I've met him. He's lovely. I also find him quite sexy personally 😊.

Have a feeling it's going to go down a road to do with sexual abuse though which will be unpleasant to watch.