Once Upon A Time In The Midlands

The tale of an epic clash of personalities between Robert Carlyle’s swaggering scumbag and Rhys Ifans’ devoted family man, Once Upon A Time In The Midlands bears more than passing similarities to recent entries in the ‘gritty grim-up-north’ genre.

Set on a nondescript estate in Nottingham, its characters apparently subsist on a diet of chips and beer, and the sun never seems to rear its head. There is, though, just enough wry humour in the script to lift Once Upon a Time... above the average genre offering.

Decent, dull, straight-laced beanpole Dek (Ifans) dotes on his girlfriend Shirley (Henderson) – but when she turns down his marriage proposal live on telly, her menacing ex-husband Jimmy (Carlyle) returns to town with the intention of worming his way back into her knickers. A Western-influenced battle ensues (as hinted in the title, a nod to Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West) and, while there are no prizes on offer for guessing who wins, it’s all fairly diverting stuff while it lasts.