In Small Time, petty criminal Malc and his mate steal anything they can lay their hands on: dog food, home-trainers, crabsticks. Their motto is: steal from the rich and sell to the poor at half the price. But not every theft is a success. Malc’s wife Kate has a real dislike of the leader of the gang Jumbo and confronts Malc with an ultimatum: either you say goodbye to your friends or I take the kids and leave. Jumbo does everything to keep his gang together. Shane Meadows longest film so far is set in the Midlands, the industrial heart of England. The director’s sharp eye for social tension and preference for characters from the working class are reminiscent of Mike Leigh. The coarse lower-class humour, obviously larded with typically English jokes about sex in a broad Brum accent, and the unknown but excellent cast make Small Time an enjoyable no-budget (5000 pounds) début by a director who can now start commanding bigger budgets.Where’s the Money Ronnie? Yes, where is the money? The police question those involved in a failed attempt to swindle a pretty stupid cockney. Everyone blames Ronnie and Ronnie blames the others. Shane Meadows’ short black & white film reflects the wonderful atmosphere of the early sixties when crooks and criminals had apparently not yet lost their innocence.
