Shopping

Poised precariously between raw, 'realist' social comment and neon-lit, American-influenced genre-riffing, Anderson's directorial debut is praiseworthy for its high-octane, unsentimental look at the contemporary phenomena of joyriding and ram-raiding. Billy (Law, photogenic but expressively limited) is a 19-year-old nihilist who finally cares only for the speedy glee of stealing a car - usually in company with Jo (Frost), a feisty but marginally more cautious Irish girl in her early 20s - racing down empty streets with cops in pursuit, and crashing through any suitable shopfront that presents itself. The film is impressively energetic and for the most part appropriately amoral, although motivation rarely rises above 'There must be more than this' or 'I want to be somebody' variety.