Sweet Sixteen

After venturing to L.A. for BREAD AND ROSES (2000), a sincere examination of the plight of Mexican migrant workers, British director Ken Loach and Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty return to more familiar ground with this gripping tale of a Scottish teenager's tragically misguided attempts to protect his mother from a life of drugs and petty crime. Young Liam (Martin Compston) is about to turn 16, but there's a much more important date on the horizon. His mother, Jean (Michelle Coulter), is about to be released from prison, and this time Liam means to keep her far away from the influence of her loutish, drug-dealing boyfriend, Stan (Gary McCormack). After being thro...