Director Ken Loach, who has recently won fresh acclaim with My Name is Joe (whose star Peter Mullan has a small role here), pushes his politics right into the background for this gritty comedy very much based on real life on a building site. Writer Bill Jesse was himself a building worker and his colourful, wisecracking script is a joy. Loach insisted that all the actors should have had building site experience, and this pays off in some strong performances, particularly from Robert Carlyle as Stevie, Ricky Tomlinson (a founder-member of the 'Brookside' cast as Bobby Grant), Willie Ross as the hard-bitten foreman Gus, and Derek Young as the black guy keen to search for his roots in Africa. Comedy and real life at the bottom of the heap mix well in this entertaining film but you will have to concentrate hard to understand some of the richer regional accents.

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