Own the rights?
12 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Very Good, 29 March 2004 Author: Rob from United Kingdom
It's quite nice to see how good this film is when you think about it. A lot of people don't really know much about Welsh films and to be honest it's because there isn't that many unless there are in welsh language. Before Dougrary Scott starred in Mission Impossible 2 and Ripley's game there was Twin Town and the same goes for Rhys Ifans who stole most of the limelight on Notting Hill as the mad masturbating Welshman Spike but it all started here with Kevin Allen's Twin Town. A hard look at Swansea life through so many different characters who you forget who is who after the first half hour but what a bunch of characters they are. Most of them actually put Wales to shame but with a funny twist of humour and violence. This came hot on the heels of Trainspotting and had a lot to look up to but I think this just as good as Trainspotting. It starts off well enough and keeps going throughout without it letting up for a second till the end credits. Even though there are some ruthless people in this you can't help but fall in love with them especially Terry played by Dougrary Scoot who is just so comic as a hard cop bully who thinks he is the man but is actually very accident prone at most times and that's what makes him great amongst other roles.This is a so much happening here and we should look at this for what it is which is a feel good film that starts you off straight away and doesn't let you stop till the end credits.
9 out of 9 people found the following review useful: A GEM - the unpolished Black Opal of the film industry..., 5 March 1999 Author: Storm C.W. Griffin from Brisbane, Australia
Very very funny.A sleeper hiding in the dusty back shelves of the video store, that I took out one night with curiosity and no expectations. I'm three-quarters English, a quarter Welsh and have spent a long time in Australia, but I don't think it was just the Welsh part of me that enjoyed this movie.I loved its roughness, its quirkiness, its lack of perfection and its reality and sure! some of the characters were grubby, superficial and less than enervating.This is a loosely woven picture of reality in an under-privileged urban environment with all the mundanity, idiocy, drama, violence, beauty and humour of everyday life that eddies around us, and in this instance, the Lewis twins. There are a couple of truly hilarious scenes that very few actors could emulate, but the twins in the movie are twins in real life and it flows naturally.Revenge escalates inevitably beyond the frivolous into the 'deadly' serious with a speed and abandonment that has you gasping. But unlike some movies that lose it at the end, this one magically gathers in all the loose threads and delivers a finale of epic proportions that elegantly spans the coldly ruthless and the vauntingly sublime and leaves you with a sense of deep justice.GREAT. This is the sort of stuff the Americans don't do very often or very well, and mostly misunderstand when someone else does it properly. This was done properly.Reviewers disappointed by an inevitable comparison with Trainspotting obviously missed a lot of the subtle stuff in both movies that is exclusive to the towns, times and cultures they portray. They got sidetracked by the 'big' issues ....Shelve your preconceptions, grab the remote and replay all those bits that are hard to catch if your ear isn't tuned to the accent. Sure it helps if bad language doesn't get in the way of enjoyment, but let's face it, you should be used to those Anglo-Saxon and Gaelic words by now - so if you can handle it, this one's a delight - but it'll never be mainstream.
8 out of 8 people found the following review useful: this is a good film, and welsh to boot!, 20 January 1999 Author: Thomas Hadland from Gloucestershire, England
Twin Town cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Trainspotting, simply because it is a completely different film, the fact that they are both set in squalid urban surroundings and involve drugs is incidental. Twin Town is basically a sequence of revenge acts between two groups of people linked in all sorts of ways. The Twins to whom the title refers might as well be cardboard cutouts, for the lack of personalities, but you find yourself sympathetic with them despite their debauchery. Likewise the death of the Lewis family (minus the sons) is a very sad moment, despite the fact that they have been portrayed so shallowly. This is the success of the film, the way it manipulates your emotions to leave you genuinely shaken by the violence in the events leading up to the climax, whereas the opening of the film leads you to expect a light-hearted farce. Watching it again it is easy to divide the film into two sections, but very difficult to pin down where the change of pace and mood begins. The humour and irony is superb, particularly the razor sharp sarcasm of Adie. Although a very seedy picture of Wales is presented, this presents a very positive view of the people of Swansea and manages not to be anti-English in the slightest despite the obvious nationalistic feel. The acting is great, and as long as you aren`t expecting anything like Trainspotting and you let the humour wash over you you`ll enjoy this.
8 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Pure Genius, 3 November 2002 Author: Rikki Christensen from Manchester, England
Being a Swansea girl originally, I had no trouble in deciphering the accents...Swansea is indeed an Ugly, Lovely City, and the stark and honest portrayal of life in the dull valleys of south Wales, where unemployment is high, was a piece of script writing and directing genius. The Lewis "twins" were played brilliantly by the Evans brothers, and their honest and forthright portrayal of two youngsters bored with the humdrum life was refreshing and gritty. The human touch in this film was evident from the start, and in many areas it seemed to have an almost Docu Drama type genre, which added to the realism. It is unfair to compare Twin town to Trainspotting, as there are no comparisons to be made, both should be viewed as independant films, and to link them together does the would be viewer no justice. Twin Town has all the elements of a great movie, Comedy, Drama, and in combining these,the viewer cannot help but become attached to the characters. This film made me laugh, gasp and cry.A stroke of Pure Genius.
9 out of 13 people found the following review useful: THE Welsh Film of the 90's!!, 28 November 2001 Author: Dorian Wyn Howells (Doz_81@hotmail.com) from Llanelli, S. Wales
What a film! It was hyped up during it's release, so when I saw it, I understood why! It's set in Swansea, (Only 8 miles from where I live!), so I could really connect with the surroundings and the larger than life characters. Mind you, the storyline was something I wouldn't have associated with the city...yeah right!Rhys Ifans' and Dougray Scott's break out roles, this one oozes great performance's. Some people knock the acting 'cos it seems 'hammed up', but the Welsh are like that. We do tend to go OTT sometimes, we are larger than life people! And as the script shows, we are very nationalistic.Great direction, and with nearly every recognisable Welsh actor in it, this is a dark, funny, and entertaining film. The script is fresh, and the plot is good. And as the caption on the sleeve states, the film DOES "raise an index finger to Hollywood".Rating? nothing short of perfect 10! Go and see it NOW! I promise you, you will not be dissapointed!
3 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Excellent!, 9 March 2008 Author: oh_archey from United Kingdom
The film has everything you'd want it to have. Especially if you're British. Probably more of a bloke's film, but still fun for everyone.The story is brilliant, and so accurately welsh. Every minor detail adds to the whole experience. The film progresses like a serious drama and seems to come out with brilliant comedy without even trying. As well as the actual storyline being funny, little quirks about each character and even the attention to welsh detail makes you laugh.Not only is it well written, it's also beautifully filmed, and makes great use of the camera. The film encompasses a huge range of interesting shots.Enhancing the film further was it's great choice of cast. All the characters were perfectly conveyed, and film avoided any bad performances.The music is also something to listen out for, as it stands out as a good piece of work on it's own.I highly recommend Twin Town (especially if you're British), as it's an exciting film experience with a great story, interesting shots, decent actors, and appropriate use of excessive swearing and violence.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: wonderful movie, 17 December 2006 Author: sales-282 from US
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Wonderful movie. Just brilliant.Fantastic script, odd , quirky , original and hilarious.Great to see some movies in Wales for a change.I am not Welsh but always find them hilarious weird and very unique.Best Welsh film Zulu great acting too from Rhys Ifans, his brother and Keith Allen. Enjoye the Phil Bennett scenes, the bath scenes, the poodle scenes, the caravan scenes, the nightclub scenes, the coffin sea burial scenes, the singing scenes, the quiz questions, the car chases, the old lady buying drugs scenes, was she talking welsh or what?Bryn Cartwright was great too.Steaky steak line was great Great singing great lines great script great characters Great ending
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Pretty Shitty City, 14 March 2006 Author: dombarclay from United Kingdom
Darkly amusing (dark comedy if you're English) about a dodgy cop using spoof scenes from great and famous movies. Such scenes with the poodle reflects the horse in the godfather and the another scene is the Karaoke Bar and the movie Carrie. This is all set in Swansea about twins and dealing with the death of a family member. Much Love, madness and set in Wales. Wonderful, I watched about 5 times in 7 days. Got funnier and funnier, the script (See Summary) is outstanding. John Noakes and the scene with the Ice Cream van is most amusing and again if you are English the scene in bath where the twins are quizzing each other about football is also exceptional.WATCH WATCH AND WATCH AGAIN.
To the good film bad ending guy, 22 November 2008 Author: mainmanjosh from United Kingdom
Just wanted to say to the guy who thought this film had a bad ending, you clearly don't understand the essence of escalation. "Revenge is a dish best served cold" you will note is the opening lines of the Kill Bill Series, not a black comedy granted but a similar themed film. The whole point of revenge is to go one better than what was done to you, when someone blows up your entire family, albeit unintentionally then what better way to dish out the moment when said opponent in the battle of revenge meets his maker, than by carrying out your dead fathers wish. In my mind this is the ultimate black comedy, a biased decision I'm sure growing up on the welsh border and getting an extra tickle from the welsh eccentricities, but from a writing point of view, perfectly executed!
Bendegedig (fantastic in Welsh), 5 September 2008 Author: manitou-full-moon from United Kingdom
Some like to call Twin Town the "Welsh Trainspotting". I would disagree - while it has some similarities such as prolific drug use and a bleak portrayal of a city in the United Kingdom (in this case Swansea, with bits of Port Talbot), the two films are quite different.Twin Town takes place in 90s Swansea, where brothers Julian (Llyr Ifans) and Jeremy Lewis (Rhys Ifans) live a carefree existence smoking weed and driving stolen cars at high speed through the residential areas of Swansea. Their father, Fatty (Huw Ceredig) does work for local businessman and small-time gangster Bryn Cartwright (William Thomas), and falls from a ladder and breaks his leg while working on a roof. Bryn refuses to give the family compensation for Fatty's injury, and the brothers take revenge by urinating on his daughter, Bonny (Jenny Evans) during a singing competition at the local (sadly, now-defunct) nightclub, Barons.This starts off an escalating feud which involves the decapitation of a poodle, and the surprisingly massive explosion of a caravan, culminating in some rather brutal justice inflicted on Bryn and his partner in crime, corrupt cop Terry Walsh (Dougray Scott). I'm not going to go and spoil the entire thing, but what I will say is that things take a rather dark turn, with Julian and Jeremy showing a rather unexpected creative mind for murder, especially given that they appear to be just permanently wasted.As a Swansea resident, I have to say that while the drug use in the film is exaggerated, it does capture the seedier side of Swansea quite well. The scenes of Swansea's nightlife are perhaps too accurate (anyone who has been to Wind Street at its worst will know what I mean), and the accent and rather, erm, colourful way that the characters speak is spot on. It also, however, captures some of the more beautiful aspects of the city, namely its heart (although the Lewis family are dysfunctional, they have a very warm family dynamic), and also the beautiful scenery in the area (visible in the panoramic shots of the city), and I think that any Welshman couldn't watch the funeral scene at the end as the choir sings "Myfanwy" without wiping away a tear.I saw that the film got quite a few bad reviews on the net (and indeed on here). I think possibly some might not get the accents, or indeed the feel of the film - ultimately, to really enjoy the film, you have to have lived in Swansea to get the most out of it, as if you have, a particular location or character will tie in with certain memories you have of the place, whereas otherwise, it might not.It's most definitely worth checking out, and add another star if you're from Swansea!
Add another review
