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Nicky Bell, Liam Boyle, Ian Puleston-Davies, Oliver Lee, Lee Battle ... see more see more... , Michael Ryan , Sean Ward , Anthony Burrows , David Barlow , Elliot Hughes , Holliday Granger , Ged McKenna , Lianna Sorza , Danielle Malone , Sacha Parkinson , Rebecca Atkinson , Samantha McCarthy , Tom Cottle

A young man makes some new and dangerous friends in this kitchen-sink drama set in Northern England in 1979. 19-year-old Carty (Nicky Bell) lives with his father (Ged McKenna) and younger sister Molly... read more read more... (Holliday Grainger) and has a good job working for his uncle Bob (Ian Puleston-Davies). Despite his loving family and promising future, Carty is fascinated with "the Pack," a gang of football supporters led by John (Stephen Graham) who are known in the neighborhood for their drinking and reckless violence. Carty strikes up a casual friendship with Mark (Liam Boyle), a member of the Pack nicknamed "Elvis," and while Mark isn't convinced Carty is cut out to run with them at first, Carty's tenacity in a fight changes his mind. While Carty and his new mates use their muscle to knock some sense into a short-term boyfriend who mistreats Molly, she doesn't trust the Pack and tries to persuade her brother that hanging out with them will lead to a bad end. Carty isn't easily persuaded, but his relationship with the Pack becomes complicated when his friendship with Mark takes an unexpected turn. Awaydays was adapted from a novel by Kevin Sampson, who also wrote the film's screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

35% liked it

655 ratings

Critics

33% liked it

27 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 44 min.

Directed by: Kevin Sampson, Pat Holden

Release Date: March 1, 2009

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Stats: 153 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (153)

  • McKittrick
    May 27, 2009
    McKittrick
    A really badly made film in many respects and the zero budget is glaringly obvious right from the start. Of course a low budget doesn't make a bad film and can often go in the film's favour, helping to give a film a raw, gritty and more credible feel for example. But good directi... read moreon doesn't cost anything and here they don't seem to have bothered at all. It often feels like the actors were left to get on with it by themselves - unwise with a cast of (mostly) unknowns. The story is all over the place and characterisation is hamfisted and mealymouthed. So why did I like it so much??...
    Maybe cus it's British and cheaply made and, funnily enough, it's not some dumb horror? Maybe cus there are no big stars, or celeb endorsements, or product placement, media hype, explosions or smug knowing in-jokes. Maybe it's cus The News Of The World slagged it off?
    Or maybe I'm just a sucker for a story about a homo, tortured by self-loathing and unrequited love, set to a fantastic soundtrack? (it is FUCKING fantastic!). Maybe cus it's a failure but at least they tried?
    Actually it's all of the above. It's certainly nowhere near in the same league as 'Control' or the best of Shane Meadows (to which some lazy critics have compared it to) but despite (and sometimes because of) it's many flaws it's not a bad little film and I really enjoyed it.
  • DrLappos
    September 20, 2009
    DrLappos
    Hugely dissapointed with this...what the hell it thought it was supposed to be I dont know. There is no comparrison between books and the film adaptation but this one was even worse....I have absolutely no problems with people being gay but this film wasnt s0 sure. I know it was ... read moreset in 1979 but is it a love story? Is it film about football violence or people being bored with their ordinary lives?.....God knows cause this film didnt...I sat there totally bemused and im sure most of you will be too.....so much potential so little outcome.....and the fight scenes were crap!

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Critic Reviews

Sam Bathe
April 15, 2010
Sam Bathe, Fan The Fire

Awaydays comes close to being lumped in with every other British indie but the excellent production quality pull it through and director Pat Holden is left with another promising, if flawed, adventure. Full Review

Edward Porter
May 28, 2009
Edward Porter, Times [UK]

Bell's wholehearted performance and the film's convincingly scuzzy atmosphere don't make up for the big hole in the script. Full Review

Charlotte O'Sullivan
May 22, 2009
Charlotte O'Sullivan, This is London

There's no shortage of movies about Britain's mean streets and, for the most part, Awaydays runs with the pack. Full Review

Allan Hunter
May 22, 2009
Allan Hunter, Daily Express

A meagre budget and a lack of clear-cut character motivations blunts the impact of what might have been a powerful Mean Streets-style study of male friendship. Full Review

Dave Calhoun
May 22, 2009
Dave Calhoun, Time Out

The film falls down in its effort to make credible the background stories of its well-performed lead characters. Full Review

Ali Catterall
May 22, 2009
Ali Catterall, Film4

A pretentious, grubbily voyeuristic paean to football hooliganism, kitted out with ubiquitous slo-mo violence, tactical post-punk hits and retro fashions. Full Review

Kevin Maher
May 22, 2009
Kevin Maher, Times [UK]

All around him the movie drips with atmosphere. The evocative sense of place is overwhelming, and perhaps the real star. Birkenhead in 1979 may not have been like this. But it is now. Full Review

Andrew Pulver
May 22, 2009
Andrew Pulver, Guardian [UK]

To these figures, Sampson applies an almost hysterical level of romanticisation, and it sort of works - especially when all the impossibly yearning post-punk music on the soundtrack really gets going. Full Review

Tim Robey
May 22, 2009
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph

What's convincing here is the pervasive unhappiness - the movie really understands violence as a drug, a way out of a void. Full Review

Matt Bochenski
May 22, 2009
Matt Bochenski, Little White Lies

Awaydays is a ham-fisted coming-of-age drama that fails to say anything interesting about male relationships, violence, the 1970s or the peculiar northern soul of Liverpool.

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