poddylobo This film kept getting pushed down to the bottom of my 'to watch' list, but I'm really glad that I got to it in the end.It was refreshing to see a teenage pregnancy story that took us out of grimy (sub)urban life, instead offering expansive views of country and coastline. So although many of the themes were difficult and at times harrowing, these extreme wide shots gave us a bit of room to breathe.This film also took us away from the female, or more accurately, the mother, which again is unusual for a story dealing with teenage pregnancy. Robbie's mum is always kept at a distance and behind a barrier, such as at the end of an unanswered phone. Subsequent to his rapid conception and birth, baby Elliot's mum is only seen walking in the background now and again. This allowed the film to effectively focus on father-son relationships spanning four generations.However, this focus on the father figure almost left me craving a little feminine input, if only for the sake of balance. Luckily, the film delivered on this through the initially mute character, Nia, who has a story to tell and eventually manages to tell it.Another interesting aspect to do with storytelling is the portrayal of the media. The newspaper headlines and TV snippets paint the picture of a dangerous, possibly armed menace. The film will then cut to young Robbie lovingly taking care of his child, thus undermining this face-of-evil built up by the media. We're reminded that this is about an individual on a journey.After recurring references to drowning and water, Robbie's journey unsurprisingly culminates in a cliff edge. As with all ambiguous endings, I have an ambiguous response. Half of me applauds the film for ending with such suspense. The other half just wants to know what happened...

Tim Kidner For those who praised both the directing and writing of A Boy Called Dad might like to know that Brian Percival (who directed the multi-award winning ITV drama 'Downton Abbey') won a BAFTA along with screenwriter Julie Rutherford. That was a short, About A Girl, in 2001.This re-teaming in 2009, a small £1million budget and a welcome star name of Ian Hart have produced a modest little gem of a Brit movie, filmed in Liverpool and north Wales. A Boy Called Dad stars 14 y.o. Kyle Ward, a natural and fine performance (though according to IMDb, hasn't been in anything since) from a lad who has a one night stand - and then fatherhood. The mother of the child has little contact with Robbie (Ward) and lives separately.Enter jack-the-lad Robbie's Dad, a cheeky Liverpudlian with a VW pickup. He left Robbie and his mother some years before and says that he had moved to Ireland, when he had in fact, not. Robbie, after some reacquainting and bonding with his Dad, feels rejected and goes off the rails, kidnaps his own son and makes off in a car.The film does have its moments of action, bursts of anger and a lot of quiet moments of contemplation and emotion. It won't suit everyone, though its very humanity should appeal to us all. It's whether we choose to actually sit down and watch it rather than something more gimmicky and instantly gratifying. It's not a great movie, but a good one.

roger-hadfield1 You don't have to have a child yourself to feel the emotion seeping out of every frame of this affecting film - everyone will relate to the themes of regret, responsibility and second chances.A great performance by Kyle Ward, for his first film role he shows a real depth of emotion and surprising subtlety at times and Ian Hart in the role of his absent father is great as always.An emotionally charged, and in places extremely funny, script combined with some breathtaking cinematography lift 'A Boy Called Dad' above many of its contemporaries. The result is a film that won't just tug at the heart strings, but will shear right through them. A simple story told with honesty and integrity; one that will stay with you long after you've left the cinema.

julianshouse I think that overall A boy called dad is a very deep and very enjoyable movie. At first glance the film seems to be about teenage pregnancy, but there are so many more aspects to it. Such as how the method of fatherhood gets passed down through the generations and how the protagonist changes as he takes care of his son. I thought that Kyle Ward did a great job as Robbie, you could see that he was capable of great compassion but at the same time he could get very angry, overall the standard of acting was high all round. The cinematography was very lush, they chose to go lightly on the colour correction which gave it a more realistic feel but it the shots still look fantastic and compel you to watch on. The story was well written and the dialogue felt natural and original which was great. I would have liked to have seen more of the mother of Robbie's son, we don't see much of her throughout the movie and we never hear any of her story which could be quite interesting. But the story is mainly about the four generations of this family. There are some points when I felt like I had no idea what Robbie's plan was or what he was trying to do which didn't really achieve the exciting effect it should have. But these moments can be forgiven, the rest of the story is very compelling and will keep you on the edge of your seat at the end. Overall I really enjoyed A boy called Dad, especially the ending which I thought was very clever.