Martin Freeman in "Men Only"

[Carol the Dabbler]

"Men Only" (a 2000 tv movie) is one of Martin Freeman's biggest roles to date that I have not yet seen, so of course I've been hoping to find it on DVD or whatever.  Yesterday I ran across it on YouTube.  We haven't had a chance to watch it yet, so I can't give you my reaction, but seeing as how things on YouTube sometimes "go away" without warning, I thought I'd better let y'all know it's there while it's still there.

 

WARNING:  As broadcast television goes, this show is very explicit (in movie terms, it's clearly R-rated).
 
"Men Only," part 1:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk90vYIj4o4
 
"Men Only," part 2:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpwAvF5BFp8
 
Most of what I know about this two-hour show comes from this internet article listing the author's favorite Freeman roles (plus five times that Freeman might have been well advised to stay home).  The author has this to say about "Men Only":

Men Only was a once shown, never repeated (or released on DVD) Channel 4 drama about a bunch of reprehensible lads, and the depravity they rapidly sink into. Their five-a-side matches result in the drinking sessions, which lead to strippers, then to drugs and prostitutes, and finally a vicious gang attack on one unsuspecting girl.
 
As Jamie, Freeman manages to perfectly capture a young man who allows himself to become part of a gang, and the reprehensible consequences that bring. An incredibly tough watch, and by no means a perfect drama as some of the characters feel like cartoons, but Jamie’s remarkable disintegration and attempt to make up for what he’s been involved in still stands out nearly a decade after it was made.

 

A side note:  Amanda Abbington is also in "Men Only."  In fact, this was the job where she and Freeman met.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

We have watched the first half.  It is more explicit than any other British television I've seen, and far more explicit than what can be shown on American broadcast television (definitely R-rated).  So if that's not your cup of tea, consider yourself forewarned.

 

Also, the sound (and picture) quality is not great, of course they're speaking British, and there are no subtitles.  So we're understanding no more than half of what they're saying, and if there are nuances, we're missing them.

 

As the review above said, it's by no means a perfect drama.  In fact, the plot strikes me as awfully simplistic.  But the review gives me hope that the second half has more to offer, so we'll finish it tomorrow.

 

On the plus side, Zoe Telford (Sarah Sawyer from "Blind Banker" and "Great Game") is also in it.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I found the second half somewhat better organized than the first, and kept thinking that the plot might actually be headed somewhere.  But then it just stopped.  Nothing's tied up, everyone's life is a mess, nobody seems to have learned anything -- just roll the credits.

 

Overall, I found this movie violent, full of sex without being sexy, and just plain depressing.  The people who think art has to be depressing might like it, but it's definitely not my kinda thing.  At all.

 

My list of the top five (and bottom five) things-with-Martin-Freeman-in-them obviously differs from the reviewer's.  In fact, Men Only just edged Hardware (which has nothing actually wrong with it) out of my bottom five.