The Angels' Share
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cinéSARNIA presents THE ANGELS’ SHARE Jan 26 &27 Please check our web site at cineSARNIA.com for upcoming films and other information The Angels’ Share Ken Loach United Kingdom, 2012 English 101 minutes Principal Cast: Paul Brannigan, Siobhan Reilly, John Henshaw, Roger Allam COMING FILMS: Feb 9 & 10: TBA Mar 16 & 17: Wadjda Mar 30 & 31: Gabrielle Apr 13 & 14: The Lunchbox THE ANGELS’ SHARE Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, the latest collaboration between director Ken Loach (The Wind that Shakes the Barley , My Name Is Joe ) and screenwriter Paul Laverty marks a departure from the pair’s impassioned, socially conscious examinations of the British underclass. When we are first introduced to the protagonist of The Angels’ Share — Robbie (newcomer Paul Brannigan), a young, intermittently employed Glaswegian with a propensity for violence—he seems little different from the duo’s other rough-hewn working- class characters, but as his story unfolds Loach’s film takes a decided—and refreshing—turn toward the comic. Determined to straighten out his life and settle down with his pregnant girlfriend (Siobhan Reilly), Robbie narrowly manages to avoid more jail time by agreeing to community service. He is soon befriended by his avuncular supervisor Harry (John Henshaw), a kindly soul who has a connoisseur’s passion for whiskey. When Harry takes Robbie and his fellow young offenders Mo (Jasmin Riggins), Rhino (William Ruane) and Albert (Gary Maitland) on an outing to a distillery in the Highlands, Robbie discovers that he has a natural nose for whiskey. With his newfound skill, Robbie soon hatches a plan to plunder a few bottles of extremely rare Malt Mill whiskey, which would give him and his fellow roughnecks enough money to clear their debts and start afresh. As two percent of every barrel of whiskey evaporates over the course of a year—the so-called “angels’ share”—Robbie and his mates reason that it could be put to better use down on earth. Working wonders with a cast of nonprofessionals and unknowns, and making picturesque use of the lush, rolling Scottish Highlands, Loach transforms grubby realism into sprightly fable. Calling to mind two classic Scottish comedies, Alexander Mackendrick’s Whisky Galore! and Bill Forsyth’s That Sinking Feeling , The Angels’ Share is whimsical, light-hearted, freewheeling and at times almost surreal—but like any good whiskey, it’s still got a bit of a kick. This is British comedy at its warmest and most pleasurable; cask strength, unfiltered and neat. —Robbie Collin, The Daily Telegraph .