It was the Eastenders Christmas Special of 1986 in film.

Rating: 2/10 (22 January 2001)

Don't get me wrong I did not hate this film. But to bracket in the top 10 of all time and to mention it in the same breath as Star Wars, Shawshank Redemption etc is a pathetic travesty. Where do I start?
Spoilers The Film is about a middle aged drug taker running around after a girl young enough to be his grand daughter, a couple constantly arguing non stop, a teenage daughter who doesn't get on with her parents etc etc - all of which you'll find in any episode of any second rate soap opera. i don't hear people raving about "the message" in them.
It's the old 'Dead Poets Society' all over again. People trying to impress others by pretending to enjoy the 'deep hidden meaning' behind the film. Statistically, that can't be true. In reality we live in a world where the public are so stupid they chase pediatricians out of their home because they get the word muddled up with paedophiles. That many people are not that clever.
I appreciate I have never been to America, so have little idea whether that reflects US reality, but in England (and maybe everywhere else) it doesn't wash at all.
I just don't see "so much beauty everywhere I look". Where I go, I see muggings, assaults, filthy run down council estates that haven't had the rubbish collected for 6 months, and trains not fit for rodents and this is in one of the most popular cities in the world.
Like Pulp Fiction, this film assumes we have an insatible desire for drug and sex storylines. OK some people do, but lots don't. I also happened to find the daughter more attractive than her friend. The rest of the cast, admittedly excellent actors, were an incredibly weird group of people, and the tough ex army bloke who hates gays and then turns out to be one? Do me a favour. So to the stereotypical teenage blonde girl.
I'll admit to not always being clever enough to find meanings in films, but then I am one of the few people who really couldn't care less whether a film has a hidden message or not. I want to turn my brain off when I sit down to watch a film. I just want a beginning, middle and end.
I wouldn't be able to tell you the entire meaning behind Shawshank Redemption, The Great Escape or any of the other great films there are. I just wish others would admit the same instead of trying to show off by pretending to understand and by making a lot more of films than what the writer intends. Exactly the same way people do with poetry. After all, this was a storyline that almost everyone would have encountered in their life.
I dread to think what these sort of people would make of me if they scrutinised my every move. Despite all of that, as I said the film was ok and had nothing majorly wrong with it. Just don't expect it to be anywhere near the standard of any others in the IMDB top 10.
4or5 out of 10.