This Film 4 venture is almost like a throwback to those abrasive Nicol Williamson films of the late Sixties, right down to the girl who rips off her top at one of those boring swinging parties that surely never were. This time it's the admirable Anthony Hopkins in the Williamson role, and it would be hard to find a character more embittered or full of suppressed rage than Bill Hooper, who has left his wife and young son for a reason that does not become apparant (even to Bill) until towards the end of the film. He finds himself channelling his anger into a friend's fight for the custody of his own child, whisked away from him by his lesbian wife. As the friend, Jim Broadbent gives the best performance in the film. Joanne Whalley and Harriet Walter are also good as the mistress and wife in Hooper's life, but the film finally ends in the middle with Hooper unable to decide what to do. As one might expect, though, there are some smart oneliners in between the angst and the four-letter words. 'Some judges,' confides oily legal eagle Simon Callow, knowing he's found the right magistrate for his case, 'are giving custody to lesbians. Kirby-Smith would rather have the child taken out and shot'.

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