Excellent but underrated film

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

"SoulBoy" has as its background the Northern Soul scene of the 1970's. It's a dim little picture only partly redeemed by the charismatic presence of the immensely likable Martin Compston and some very decent tunes. As a 'period' picture it's totally manufactured, all the costumes and props looking like they came out of a retro charity shop. It just about passes the time but you can tell there is a much better film lurking in the background trying to get out. It's like a British attempt to resurrect something like "Saturday Night Fever" or "Footloose" and that's where it fails miserably. This is one film unlikely to see the light of day anytime in the future.

Once again we are presented with many different versions of the helpless, bumbling, western male until the lead male 'does a little dance' in order to impress a member of the opposite sex in the hope of some kind of redemption and therefore place in society and reason to exist. The film struggles to find a consistent tone, verging from someone getting a horrible beating in the toilets of the casino to the male lead's inane grinning throughout the film. Further variations in tone range from someone receiving oral sex in a car to real life memories of the northern soul scene shown over the credits. The music takes a back seat to clique-ridden window dressing.

I remember the buzz around this film a few years ago because it was shot in Stoke and part financed by the now disbanded Screen West Midlands. With whom I had some professional involvement. I can't add anything to the already excellent user comments about this film but will say what I would do differently were I making it. As other users say its a coming of age story set against the northern soul scene of the mid seventies. I've got interested enough in northern soul to have researched it and Wigan Casino was one of umpteen clubs across the midlands and north of England. My strongest criticism of this film is it doesn't work within its constraints of a low budget and the attempts to re create the Wigan Casino don't convince. They needed a bigger budget, a bigger cast of extras and so on. If I was making the film I'd have thought a lot smaller and set it in a fictional soul club or maybe even a youth club in Stoke on Trent. Stoke had a major Northern soul venue in any case I can t remember the name, as did places like Droitwich and Wolverhampton. When Hollywood do period films they have the budget to chuck at it that it convinces. We can't do it. There's all of three period vehicles that appear in the film. Some of the costumes and detailing are wrong. Did digital watches have alarms in 1974? I doubt it. But this is nonetheless entertaining and worth a watch, especially if you like retro drama. I've seen clips from the forthcoming NORTHERN SOUL film which looks a lot more convincing. I was six years old in 1974 so too young to be part of any scene but I still remember the decade and certain things can transport me back. There's a certain 'look' to the seventies and it needs a budget to achieve a convincing rendition in a film. What I saw of NORTHERN SOUL seemed to have it. SOULBOY is 2/3 of the way there, a commendable effort, worth seeing but in my opinion it would have been better if it had been a little more modest in it's ambitions.

It has taken far too long for a film about Northern Soul to come to fruition. Thankfully when it did happen it was a belter.This is a great movie and they have recreated the time and the passion really well.It's beautifully shot and the grainy film gives it an old feel whilst at the same time allowing the original dance footage to blend seamlessly.The story works well, although I was a little disappointed with the dance off. I am fairly sure it would have just been a fight but by the time this took place I was so invested in the whole feel of the film that I really couldn't care. It didn't spoil the film.The cameo from Fun Lovin' Criminal Huey was a bit out of place. No idea who chose to put him in that role but for me it didn't work.There were great touches of detail from the era, from the splash of Brut to the hideous platform shoes. The dance scenes were superb especially the long shots with a see of bodies bouncing on a crowded dancefloor.I don't know if my enjoyment was heightened because of my love for the scene but all in all this was a superb movie. I just hope it gets the recognition and wide viewing it deserves.Lovely