Svengali

Tesco bag in hand, Welsh Valley boyo Dixie traipses the streets of Shoreditch convinced that if he can find the right unsigned band, he’s got the managerial chutzpah to make them all a fortune. He’s a likeably naive character in a world of Hoxton phonies, and writer-producer-star Jonny Owen gives the role plenty of heart while serial misfortune crosses his path. The whole thing’s a big-screen version of Owen’s original web series, which perhaps explains why it struggles beyond the initial set-up, uncertain how to sustain itself when the story tries to chase the bright lights and yearn for the green valleys of home. The high-profile cameos are variable (Martin Freeman’s diamond-geezer record-shop owner scores, while Katy Brand’s abrasive Russian landlady is an ugly caricature). Owen’s amiable central turn just about gets the movie through myriad sticky patches.