Elliott Tittensor

Emilia Clarke

Nico Mirallegro

Adam Long

Jordan Murphy

Oliver Heald

Robert James-Collier

Matthew McNulty

Steve Evets

Lesley Manville

Chris Coghill

Antonia Thomas

Jodie Whittaker

Michael Socha

Nick Blood

Philip Jackson

Andrew Knott

Danny Cunningham

Paul Popplewell

Orla Poole

Billie May Coghill

Sophia Murphy

James Mair

Jack Harper

Jordan Hill

Sean Cernow

Tigga Goulding

Craig Cheetham

Jake Abraham

Steve Marsh

Bill Rodgers

Beatrice Kelley

TJ Jones

Jimmy Gallagher

Abigail Hill

Ciara Baxendale

Jodie Hamblet

Daniel Seymour

Andrew Lythall

Jim Sturgess

Mickey O'Brien

Kieran O'Brien

Kaya Scodelario

Charlie Clemmow

Rowetta

Terry Christian

Peter Christelis

Andrew Ranner

Richard Bullock

Mat Whitecross

Fiona Neilson

Phil Hunt

Tim Wheeler

Jane Levick

Compton Ross

Joe Oppenheimer

Jane Ripley

Adele Firth

Nadia Stacey

Fenella Ross

Laura Blount

Adam Kulick

Liza Bracey

JoJo Dutton

Esther Douglas

Elliot Ross

Nicky Earnshaw

Ilan Eshkeri

Christopher Ross

John William Turner

Levan Doran

Comedy

Drama

Music

Spike Island

Head Gear Films

Bankside Films

Fiesta Productions

Vertigo Films

BBC Film

United Kingdom

Does Mat Whitecross' film Bang the Drum?

It's May 1990, Great Britain, and The Stone Roses are about to play a monumental outdoor gig at Spike Island in Widnes, Cheshire. A bunch of teenage acolytes of the band, aspiring musicians themselves, embark on a journey to Spike Island whist at the same time embarking on personal journeys of the real life kind.

Us Brits do like ourselves a coming of age drama set to the backdrop of musical importance. Mat Whitecross (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll) taps into the era of Baggy Manchester, of a Northern Britain dominated by pills, thrills and romantic bellyaches. To many of a certain age The Stone Roses were "their" Beatles, a power pop foursome that rocked it big time, their influence on the British music industry is still being felt today. This in spite of their relatively short life span. Re: The Sex Pistols at Winterland, see The Stone Roses at Spike Island (in other words it was a pretty awful gig all told).

However, the band are secondary to the teen angst narrative threads, to the scallywag japes and sexual growing pains. As Messrs Ian Brown and John Squire weave their chordal magic in the background, a bunch of spotty Herbert's with mad mac haircuts and iffy accents try and make sense of it all, of life, death, loves and hates. Music binds them together, but does anything else?

It's all very formulaic stuff, but for those of the time, or for those with a love for how music can define your life, or at the least shape its direction, then this hits the requisite chords. It's funny at times and the cast are ebullient enough to carry the clichéd and thin material home, but come the finale you will be remembering the soundtrack more than the story itself. 6.5/10

English

Spike Island Official Trailer 1 (2015) - Emilia Clarke Movie HD