''Twenty-One'' is a 1991 British-American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Don Boyd Donald William Robertson Boyd (born 11 August 1948 in Nairn, Scotland) is a Scottish film director, producer, screenwriter and novelist. He was a Governor of the London Film School until 2016 and in 2017 was made an Honorary Professor in the Col ...

from a script co-written with

Zoë Heller Zoë Kate Hinde Heller (born 7 July 1965) is an English journalist and novelist long resident in New York City. She has published three novels, ''Everything You Know'' (1999), '' Notes on a Scandal'' (2003), and '' The Believers'' (2008). ''Notes ...

Patsy Kensit Patricia Jude Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and was the lead singer of the pop band Eighth Wonder in the 1980s. Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Bir ...

stars as the 21-year-old protagonist. It premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

in February 1991. It was released theatrically later that year in the United States on 4 October, followed by a British release on 1 November.

Premise

Katie is a Londoner about to turn 21. She confides directly to the camera about her life, which includes her drug-addicted boyfriend Bobby, an affair with a married

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

, and the dissolution of her parents’ marriage. Katie’s father Kenneth is a naïve car salesman who believes he can still patch things up with his philandering wife. When Bobby dies of an overdose, Katie reflects on her life and decides to move to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Cast

as Katie * Jack Shepherd as Kenneth *

Patrick Ryecart Patrick Geoffrey Ryecart (born 9 May 1952) is an English actor. Early life and career Ryecart was born in Warwick, Warwickshire. His first West End appearance was in Bernard Shaw's ''Candida (play), Candida'' at the Albery Theatre, playing t ...

as Jack *

Maynard Eziashi Maynard Eziashi (born 1965 in London, England) is a Nigerian-English actor. In 1991, he won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival for his starring role in '' Mister Johnson'' (1990). Early life Eziashi ...

as Baldie *

Rufus Sewell Rufus Frederik Sewell (; born 29 October 1967) is a British film and stage actor. In film, he has appeared in '' Carrington'' (1995), '' ''Hamlet' (1996), ''Dangerous Beauty'' (1998), '' Dark City'' (1998), '' A Knight's Tale ''(2001), '' Th ...

as Bobby * Sophie Thompson as Francesca * Susan Wooldridge as Janet *

Robert Bathurst Robert Guy Bathurst (born 22 February 1957) is an English actor. Bathurst was born in The Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1957, where his father was working as a management consultant. In 1959 his family moved to Ballybrack, Dublin, Ireland and Bath ...

as Mr. Metcalfe

Reception

The film received a rapturous response upon its premiere at

Sundance A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada * Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States * Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pla ...

, with Kensit being lauded for a star-making performance by some critics. Some festival goers likened Kensit’s role to

Julie Christie Julie Frances Christie (born 14 April 1940) is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She ...

’s in the film '' Darling''. Reception in France was also enthusiastic but the film had a mixed reaction in the UK and US. ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corporat ...

'' wrote, "Formally, ''Twenty-One'' resembles such '

swinging 60s The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mu ...

' British films as '' Alfie'' and '' Georgy Girl'', in which the slickness of the film's style is undercut by the pain of its characters, accented by anti-illusionist devices like having the characters speak directly into the camera, as Katie does here, prattling on ad nauseam while belaboring the obvious. The possible intent may have been to make an ironic commentary by processing the depleted 90s through a 60s prism." Michael Wilmington of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' wrote "almost all the writing seems unrealized: intelligent but a little hollow, daring but a little dry, all the points slightly telegraphed, all the dialogue slightly unspontaneous. And though Boyd is probably trying for a more intellectual frame, he’s not witty enough to sustain it".

Nominations

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic gla ...

* Best Female Lead -

*Grand Jury Prize -

Deauville American Film Festival *Critics Award - Don Boyd

References

External links

* * * {{Mojo title, twentyone 1991 films 1991 independent films British independent films Films set in London Films shot in London Films shot in New York (state) Films directed by Don Boyd American independent films British drama films American drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films 1990s British films