''Small Time'' is a 1996 British

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written, directed by and starring

Shane Meadows Shane Meadows (born 26 December 1972) is an English director, screenwriter and actor, known for his work in independent film, most notably the cult film ''This Is England'' (2006) and its three sequels (2010–2015). Meadows' other films inc ...

in his directorial debut, and who also produced with Dominic Dillon.

Plot

The film follows a group of friends that are small-time criminals in

Sneinton Sneinton (pronounced "Snenton") is a suburb of Nottingham, England. The area is bounded by Nottingham city centre to the west, Bakersfield to the north, Colwick to the east, and the River Trent to the south. Sneinton lies within the unitary au ...

, a suburb of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. The main protagonists are best friends, Jumbo and Malc. At the beginning of the film we hear Jumbo narrating, "We're not into anything heavy. We just rob from the rich and sell it to the poor for half price. We're just small time." Malc and his partner Kate live next door to Jumbo and his partner Ruby. Malc and Kate can continually hear the domestic abuse in the neighbouring house, but Ruby is quick to defend Jumbo although she does concede that he is bad in bed and tells Kate that she uses a sex aid. Malc is unhappy with the way his life is going but cannot seem to find a way out of the situation. Kate is unhappy too and pushes Malc to sever ties with the group. Kate attends a yoga class and makes friends with a classmate, Martin, who invites Kate and Malc to his house for the evening. Kate, Malc, Martin and his girlfriend, Elaine are having a good evening until Jumbo turns up uninvited having found out where they were from their babysitter. Malc makes it clear that he doesn't want Jumbo there. Jumbo later relays this tale to the rest of the gang, who are not impressed with Malc's new attitude. They decide to be nice to him until they have completed an armed robbery, which they need him for, and then cut him out of their circle of friends. Malc is uncomfortable with the robbery but goes along anyway. They raid a small new age store that sells incense, charms and the like. Malc acts as a look out on the street with Terry, who is driving the getaway van. Whilst the raid is going on, Malc convinces Terry to drive off. Jumbo and the rest of the gang realise that there is no money on the premise they leave when they hear police sirens, but there is now no getaway van so they have to make a run for it. Meanwhile, Malc has taken the van and is doing a moonlight flit - in broad daylight - with his family. The film ends with Jumbo being apprehended with by the police. As the credits roll we see what's happened to the gang; Willy, Jumbo and Bets are in prison, Lenny gets his comeuppance for his dodgy deals, Mad Terry looking after Malc and Kate's children in Skegness, where they now live. Kate and Malc now run a refreshment hut by the sea.

Cast

as Jumbo * Mat Hand as Malc * Gena Kawecka as Ruby * Dena Smiles as Kate * Jimmy Hynd as Willy *

Leon Lammond Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

as Bets *

Tim Cunningham Tim Cunningham is an American actor and baseball coach. He is known for playing the recurring role of "Chuck" and " Tim" on 38 episodes of the American sitcom television series ''Cheers''. Cunningham guest-starred in television programs includin ...

as Lenny the Fence * Domonic Dillon as Mad Terrance * Mark Armstrong as Crutch *Carlos Barreto as Cuban Chef *

Marcus Rowlands Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl� ...

as Martin *

Maria Woolley Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

as Elaine *

Len Hand Len or LEN may refer to: People and fictional characters * Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lén, a character from Irish mythology * Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player * Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ * L ...

as Man at door *

Tanya Myers Tanya may refer to: * Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. * Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name * Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946) * List of Mortal Kombat characters#Tany ...

as Yoga Tutor *Neil Johnson as Hoover Buyer *Autumn Lily Smiles as Trudy *Ellya Kawecka as Denver *Sun Orion Hand as Baby

References

External links

*
Shanemeadows.co.uk
{{Shane Meadows Films directed by Shane Meadows 1996 films British comedy-drama films 1996 directorial debut films 1990s English-language films 1990s British films