SMALL TIME

With no formal cinematic training and a college resume that reads more like a rap sheet, Shane Meadows has nonetheless become one of the brightest newcomers on the British film front, and the CIFF is pleased to present two of his distinctive street-level stories that demonstrate why. Filled with wry observational humor, SMALL TIME is a slice of lowlife, a comical yet perfectly credible look at a small band of crooks whose downscale heists seldom net more than dog food or stationary exercise bikes. Even their minor pilferings go wrong, and a run of exceptionally rotten luck threatens to break up the gang. But their leader, Jumbo, strives to keep his outlaws together no matter what. Made for next to nothing, acted by non-professionals (who were paid less than next-to-nothing), SMALL TIME marks Shane Meadows' entry to the big leagues.-Charles Cassady