Taking a shine to the boss

10 April 2012

Written and directed by Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger, this British romantic comedy is an emotional mess all round. Shaun Evans is a young Liverpudlian on the make who arrives in London with his mother (Lesley Manville), gets a job in PR, beds the boss (Stockard Channing), then deserts her for his true love: her disaffected daughter (Amanda Ryan). Mum, meanwhile, a would-be singer, is courted by Bob Hoskins's landlord.

Sparkle is about 10 minutes too long and directed without much fluency, rather like a homegrown movie of the Fifties. However, the acting saves it.

Evans manages charm as well as shallow ambition and Channing shows a vulnerability that is palpably real as the older woman. You can't complain about anyone in the cast. But a little more cinematic flair might have made Sparkle live up to its title better.

Sparkle
Cert: 15

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in