Be careful near trains...

Introduction

How far would you go to change your life? If a deal's a deal, what do you do if you can't live with the consequences? Three and Out features Mackenzie Crook as Paul, a tube driver who is faced with a dilemma. He "befriends" Tommy Cassidy (Colm Meaney) and through a series of unlikely events gets to meet the rest of his family, including daughter Frances aka Frankie (Gemma Arterton looking astoundingly like Saffron from Republica) and Tommy's estranged wife, Rosemary (the brilliant Imelda Staunton). He certainly hadn't planned on what happens next...

Three and Out is directed by Jonathan Gershfield (making the jump from directing TV comedies).

Video

A 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer which looks mighty fine. And that's important given some of the fine Lake District scenery on offer here (we'll forgive some of the fake road signs used in the film). No real complaints. For a film that features a pub in Coniston, it doesn't look much like the Sun Inn (ok there are other pubs, but that's probably the most famous).

Audio

A choice of Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and a DD5.1 soundtrack. This isn't your big budget booms and bangs action flick, so it just sits there and does its job quite respectably. A celtic feel to much of the incidental music, appropriate given two of the lead characters' backgrounds.

Not convinced by Gemma Arterton's scouse accent though! The director thinks it's spot on, but I've lived with several scousers and they don't sound like that!

Extra Features

A 25 minute "making of" feature, which is more about general background than concentrating literally on the making of the film. Interesting enough. There are also deleted scenes (although lacking a "play all" option), trailers, biographies and an alternative credits sequence (which bizarrely doesn't contain any actual credits).

Conclusion

A cracking little film. A great story which starts out with an odd premise but then turns into a real drama story. It's about people who feel trapped for different reasons, and the things they will do to get out of the trap. Top notch acting from all involved simply serves to make the whole experience better. A great way for Mackenzie Crook to make a "leading man" debut too, as it's very far removed from Gareth Keenan.

And you can forgive the little faults, like the fact that there's no Travelodge in Coniston or anywhere close enough (they're in Barrow, Penrith and Kendal which are too far away to make sense in the story), and the cringe moment that is Kerry Katona's brief cameo as a scouse slapper (you've seen the Iceland adverts...)

At the end of the day this is a very good film, full of excellent acting. A good story, well directed. Well worth watching.