This Is Not a Love Song

It isn't always easy to explain what a movie is like, but this time I think I've found it. It reminded me of two movies: Trainspotting (small time criminals scoring some drugs and doing some stupid things in Schotland) and The Blair Witch Project (because of the style of filming).

"This Is Not A Love Song" is a brilliant example of the chase genre, which many people think has an underlying meaning. The love between the two main characters may be more than fraternal.

The small time criminal Heaton (Kenny Glenaan) is anxiously waiting for the release of his close friend Spike (Michael Colgan), after spending a couple of months in prison for being caught with 87g of marijuana. Heaton robs a truck, meets Spike outside the penitentiary and travels with him through the country to drink some beers and celebrate his freedom.

This is quite an intense character study of two men under extreme stress, centred around the concept of loyalty, that grows increasingly absorbing as it unfolds even if it doesn't quite have the depth that writer Simon Beaufroy (writer of The Full Monty) may have been seeking.First impressions weren't good as director Bille Eltringham seems intent on throwing every film-school technique he can think of at the screen.

I watched this film in a film studies class, if not then i think i never would have seen it. The film showed potential at the start with the scene of Spike under pressure of the farmer challenging spike not to shoot, dogs in the back ground barking and heaton spikes partner screaming for help in the locked shed, ending with spike shooting the farmers young innocent girl after that the film just goes down hill.

Personally I couldn't get into 'This is Not a Love Song', its a brilliant film and there's a great story line to it, I just found myself checking the time on my phone every two minuets to see how much was left of the film.I love the relationship between Spike and Heaton, there that close they depend on each other to get along in life.

Watching this film for the first time, I couldn't make my mind up if i liked it or hated it. I thought that the film was slow and difficult to understand, as I was constantly trying to work out the relationship between Spike and Heaton.

I think the team behind this film did a very good job with the limitations they had. only £300,000 and 7 weeks to write, film and edit the whole thing which i think is an achievement in itself.

I am currently doing film studies at A.S level and "this is not a love song" is a film we watched and in my opinion it is a film with a very simple storyline but a complex back-story.