A Stephen (Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity) Frears film is always something to look forward to and this time he comes up with a parochial, home-grown little number by writer Jimmy McGovern about a Thirties Liverpool family who fall into the poverty trap during the Depression, The film-making's crisp and clear, the period production neat and nifty, and the acting more than adequate, with solid turns from Claire Hackett as Mam and Ian Hart as Dad. Hart, though, has a major problem coping with the film's sudden lurch into melodrama, when he turns into a Black Shirt in despair and desperation, firebombing a house.