Review: Sweet Sixteen

Rated R | 106 mins

Sweet Sixteen has one of the most respectable styles of storytelling that I’ve ever encountered. It allows the characters’ emotions and inner-conflicts to stay the main focus of the film, while still emphasizing a strong political view, in a beautiful way. Politically, I may not agree with it, but I respect the way that it portrays the opinion in which it succeeds in conveying.

Director Ken Loach has an astonishing ability to always show and never tell in such a fashion that the audience always knows what he would like to communicate. His work isn’t the highlight of Sweet Sixteen, though. Martin Compston, who plays our protagonist, Liam, is the person that holds this entire movie together. While the written material is earth-shattering and powerful in itself, Compston adds an unseen and unspoken force to Sweet Sixteen that’s particularly effective.

Sweet Sixteen may not be one of the best films of the year, but it’s certainly one of the most important. Occasionally, it may be hard to understand some of the characters’ accents, for the picture takes place in Scotland, but when it’s over, you’ll be glad that you watched it. It’s most definitely a must-see.