The kids are all right in The Scouting Book For Boys

10 April 2012

David and Emily (Thomas Turgoose and Holliday Grainger) are two urchins from a Norfolk trailerpark. They’re joined at the hip. She’s a firecracker, he’s a bit of a damp squib, but they present a united front against the boring, baffling adult world. Or so it seems. When David helps Emily to hide in a cave to avoid her being shipped off to her dad’s, the prank soon unravels. David brings her a boy scout manual — but both kids are entering a world without rules.

Turgoose (of This Is England fame) has magnificently crestfallen eyes and the furrowed brow of an old gimmer ewe. Grainger’s curvaceous, feline face recalls Gene Tierney in her noirish prime. They are an exceptionally talented pair and, as seen through cinematographer Robbie Ryan’s dreamily sun-warped lens, their performances prove haunting.

The kids are all right — but not much else is. Newcomer Tom Harper’s direction manages to be both clumsy and overly stylised, while the script by Skins writer Jack Thorne is predictable: boy loves girl, girl likes boy — a neon light all but flashes "Betrayal Ahead!". None of the adults sees this coming, while the Norfolk police should sue for damages:we haven’t seen cops this dim since Hot Fuzz.

Both Steven Mackintosh and Susan Lynch are wasted. Nor is the mood improved by the soundtrack, basically a lot of winsome wailing from indie folk band Noah and the Whale. You can imagine a film like this being pitched as "Ken Loach for a new generation". Desperate to be viewed as young and sexy, the makers of Scouting botch what might have been a quietly disturbing classic and wind up looking as modern as Robert Baden Powell.

The Scouting Book For Boys
Cert: 15

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