Clubbed - A well crafted indie flick

This relatively unknown drama had me gripped from start to finish. Mel Raido puts in a fine performance as Danny, a meek factory worker living a sad, solitary existence after his life takes one knock too many. Estranged from his wife and living apart from his beloved kids. He's further humiliated by thugs who beat him in front of his children. The fine screenplay really allowed me to feel for this guy, it was poignant and touching at times, especially when he holds his kids close in the squalid flat he has to rent.

With time on his hands, his visit to a local gym affords a chance meeting with Louis (Colin Salmon) who is a head doorman and something of a philosopher. This part of the film starts to raise questions about fear and violence which I won't pretend is deep and meaningful but it is very interesting, I understand that the source material is a good read. Louis becomes a mentor to Danny who starts to work the doors with him and his crew. There is a sub plot which involves local drug gangs infiltrating the club doors in order to sell their product, I don't know if this is grounded in truth but it's interesting and serves to move the plot along to an interesting finale and final twist. People have called this a low budget movie but as the script doesn't call for monsters or space ships I can't see why the comment is relevant. The piece is competently filmed, well lit, it has a tight script and the sets serve their purpose. All in all, it's a good hour and a half and has made me want to read the source material. In the end it's about Danny and the changes he goes through as a person which ultimately lead him towards something he recognises as a man.