TwentyFourSeven (1997) Dir. Shane Meadows

TwentyFourSeven is Shane Meadow’s feature debut and stars Bob Hoskins as a hard-working boxing club owner desperate to help young men in his community get their wayward lives back on track.

Opening with a dishevelled hobo in a dilapidated railway car, a young man recognisises this down-and-out and helps him back home whilst uncovering his diary. We flashback to discover this lonely broken man is Alan Darcy (Hoskins), a once-respected local in a decaying Midlands town where two rival gangs of youths spend their time bullying each other.

Meadows quickly establishes the struggles this area has faced over the years - new developments creating broken communities, high levels of poverty and families reularly struggling with generational conflicts. To try and overcome these differences, Darcy feels the discipline, conditioning and the physical nature of the sport of boxing will enable the boys to channel their frustrations in a more positive direction.

Once getting both sets of lads in the ring, the men are challenged about their anger issues with Darcy acknowledging the violence in their lives - often between fathers and son - yet slowly becomes a surrogate dad himself.

The film is shot in black and white which most obviously nods to Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980). Shots through the ropes seem a direct homage and instead of dancing around the ring, a later sequence sees Hoskins pirouetting at a dance club - of course being scored to a bombastic piece of classical music.

Defending the lads even during their misfortunes - even acting as counsel for one of the boys at trial - Darcy is shown as a real force for change to lower crime and get these, and future, kids off the street. However, despite his efforts, the lad experiences a setback and relapses into drug use, whilst others still struggle to control their temper.

Meadows hints at violence throughout - whether in the ring, between the lads or in domestic family homes - as well as masculinity itself. Body shaming, confidence and other issues are all explored and sadly, despite many years later, these are very much issues still relevant today.

Bruce Jones (known to most as Coronation Street’s Les Battersby) plays the somewhat cliched role of abusive father spouting the usual “don’t answer me back” dialogue and whose character arc is never really in doubt. But it’s not all darkness though. There’s some (black) comedy - James Corden getting hit in the stomach with a medicine ball was a highlight - as well as some heartwarming moments as the lads’ harsh insults melt away as they find camaraderie with each other.

One of the film’s downsides is a lack of individual personality to some of the juveniles. The characters aren’t fully developed as we don’t get distinct personalities as they are always together - often scrambling over each other in wide shots.

Also, despite the film’s fantastic soundtrack, the use of montage does get a bit tiresome as with so many of them it becomes less Raging Bull and more like Rocky IV. This time could have been better spent getting to know individuals and explore their circumstances in more depth. Instead, the middle section ponders around the same themes, as well as including a strange sideplot where Hoskins tries to woo a younger woman working at a grocery.

A group trip to the countryside further cements the boys’ kinship which leads to the incident that leaves Darcy himself unable to escape the violence he’s been steering these lads away from - and loses the community's respect in the process.

TwentyFourSeven is a debut of some note and contains themes that Shane Meadows will explore again in all his later work. There’s an optimism buried deep, but there’s also no shying away from the brutal realities of poverty, violence and generational gloom. 

Turning lives around is no easy thing and one aspect Meadows delves into is how hard it is to help others when you’ve not got your own stable well-being. A symbolic departure leaves us to the film’s beginning, culminating in sadness and highlighting the cycle of violence embedded in these men. However, it leaves with a poignant slither of positivity where wounds of all different kinds may be finally healing in this community.

★★★★

4 / 5

Michael Sales

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Released on BFI Blu-ray on 23 June 2025 and on AppleTV and Amazon Prime on 7 July 2025

Blu-ray special features: • Presented in High Definition • Newly recorded audio commentary by Andrew Graves • The Guardian Interview: Shane Meadows and Bob Hoskins (1997/2025, 79 mins) • Ritchie, The World’s Light-Weight Boxing Champion (1914, 1 min): newsreel capturing Willie Ritchie’s victory over the incumbent light -weight champion Freddie Welsh • Twelve Hours Punching (1924, 2 mins): amateur fighters trade blows at a variety of weights during a boxing tournament at London’s Alexandra Palace • Trailers (1997, 4 mins • ***FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet featuring new essays by Andrew Graves, Caj Sohal and Tim Coleman, notes on the special features and film credits