Launceston Film Society

Strong coarse language 

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Director: Ken Loach 
Country: UK 2009 
Cast: Steve Evets, Eric Cantona, Stephanie Bishop, Gerard Kearns, Stefan Gumbs, Lucy-Jo Hudons, Cole Williams, Dylan Williams, Matthew McNulty, Laura Ainsworth, Max Beesley, Kelly Bowland, Julie Brown, John Henshaw, Justin Moorhouse, Des Sharples 
Running time: 116 minutes 

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His wife has gone, his stepsons are out of control and the house was chaotic even before a cement mixer appeared in the front garden. Life is crazy enough, but it is Eric’s own secret that is driving him to the brink. How can he face up to Lily, the woman of his dreams that he once loved and walked out on many years ago? Despite the comical efforts and misplaced goodwill of his mates, Eric continues to sink. 

In desperate times it takes a spliff and a special friend to help a lost postman find his way, so Eric turns to his hero: footballing genius, philosopher and poster boy, Eric Cantona. 

When it comes to portraying lives in the toilet, nobody does it better than Ken Loach. 

Since defining British social-realist cinema with excoriating early classics such as Cathy Come Home (1966), Kes (1970) and Family Life (1971), Loach has been the pre-eminent master of kitchen-sink misery, often placing at the centre of his harsh dramas some put-upon working-class cog who is compelled by economic and social forces to either break the law or violate their own moral code. Laughter and magic realism have never really had much of a look-in. 

With Looking for Eric, however, Loach appears to have been touched by the angel of good cheer. It’s an upbeat, warm, life-affirming tale that doesn’t even have a left-leaning political point to push. Loach still delivers those lashes of brutal realism that have become his signature, but his emphasis here is on optimism, hope, love and friendship. 

Source: IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes 
Compiled by: Mark Horner

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