That Sinking Feeling

The image of the Scots in British films had largely been confined in the past to the wayward eccentrics of Whisky Galore! or to Glaswegian thugs. Refreshingly, in his first feature (independently produced on a risibly small budget), Bill Forsyth successfully captured the subversively ironic optimism of the Glasgow streets and somehow managed to combine it with the good-humoured charm of the best Ealing comedies. It's a street-smart fairytale about a group of unemployed teenagers embarking, enthusiastically but incompetently, on a big heist, and is played with such relish by members of the Glasgow Youth Theatre that it's guaranteed to win any audience over to its side within minutes: the British dispossessed's version of Rockers.