A Room for Romeo Brass

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Shane Meadows directs. Ashley Rowe behind the camera. Nick Hemming scores. Paul Tothill cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom, Canada. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 226 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 3International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, Canada.
• 4Directed by Shane Meadows, shot by Ashley Rowe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Nick Hemming. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Paul Tothill shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Paddy Considine and Andrew Shim and Frank Harper carry the top of the cast.
• 8IMDB entry: tt0202559 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Only 68 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

Ashley Rowe

Original score

Nick Hemming

Editing

Paul Tothill

Production design

Crispian Sallis

Costume design

Robin Fraser-Paye

Makeup / hair

Pebbles Day

Runtime

90 min · 1h 30m

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

A Room for Romeo Brass (2000) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

71% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

65/100

IMDB rating

7.5/10 · 6,261 votes

MPAA

R

US box office

$19,478

Also by

Shane Meadows

• 
  This Is England '90

  2015 · ★ 7.9
• 
  The Virtues

  2019 · ★ 7.9
• 
  This Is England '86

  2010 · ★ 7.8
• 
  This Is England

  2007 · ★ 7.5
• 
  This Is England '88

  2011 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Dead Man's Shoes

  2004 · ★ 7.1

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  A Room for Romeo Brass (1999) Theatrical Trailer HD 720p

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2017-02-08
  ★ 8/10

  Alienation and the loner! Shane Meadows is fast becoming one of the finest directors to come out of England, his films have such an earthy quality to them it's very hard to imagine that any Englishman can not find one film from his output that they can't identify with. Be it thematically or character wise. Meadows is the man from the street laying out his stories with honesty and gusto awareness. Whether Meadows will ever break out and be a hit outside of the British Isles is highly debatable, his Dead Man's Shoes from 2004 was well received away from his home shores, but you would be hard pressed to find anyone in American multiplexes (for example purposes only) who could tell you who he is, which for a director who has his finger firmly on the pulse of characterisation, that is a crying shame. A Room For Romeo Brass is the tale of two teenage boys who during a fight with some bullies meet gangly loner Morell, as Morell starts to take an unhealthy obsession with Romeo's sister, their friendship is pulled apart, but this is merely the start of Morell's impact as he is about to explode into both of the boys already fractured families. That's all you need to know really, for there is no more to tell, and this is one of Meadows's main strengths, there are no hidden agendas, no allegories of wars, this is just an everyday English housing estate with two families awash with everyday characters. Just how often do you see a loner in your neighbourhood? They are there, are they all like Morell? Well it may be best not to find out eh? Paddy Considine makes his film debut here (thankfully he is now a name across the waters), and his turn as Morell is as scary as it is sad. Anyone who was impressed with his turn as the vengeful Richard in Dead Man's Shoes will be well rewarded here. A young Andrew Shim as Romeo grabs the role with sizzling vitality, a character calling for strength of nature whilst layering in a heartfelt slant that the story benefits from. I must mention big Frankie Harper (Dog in Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels), playing Romeo's estranged father, he gets it absolutely note perfect and I was delighted to see Meadows give him the film's crowning moment. A film that opens with The Specials and closes with The Stone Roses should always appeal to an English heart, but lets get Shane Meadows' work out there to the masses, for here is a man who even gives an end credit mention for the man who turned on the generators, a man making films for the people, about the people in our midsts. 8/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Alliance Atlantis

  CA

• 

  BBC Film

  GB

• 

  Arts Council of England

  GB

• 

  Company Pictures

  GB

• BI

  Big Arty Productions

  GB

Key crew

• ProducerCharles Pattinson
• EditorPaul Tothill
• Executive ProducerDavid M. Thompson
• Makeup & HairPebbles Day
• Makeup & HairTapio Salmi
• ProducerGeorge Faber
• CastingAbi Cohen
• Production DesignCrispian Sallis
• Executive ProducerAndrás Hámori
• Story EditorRobyn Slovo
• Costume DesignRobin Fraser-Paye
• Line ProducerRonaldo Vasconcellos
• Sound RecordistColin Nicolson
• Foley ArtistJack Stew
• Dressing PropBrian Bird

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• friendship
• rejection
• nottingham

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)2000-10-20R