From the opening sheep-rustling scene, this is often a very funny
caper, in spite of its grim setting on an unemployment-hit Manchester
estate. We follow the hapless Bob (Bruce Jones) and his rascally mate
Tommy (Ricky Tomlinson) as they try to raise money for Bob's daughter's
communion dress. But the twin devils of economic depression and local
thuggery turn the screw on Bob, when loan shark Tansey gets involved and
gets nasty. The Catholicism's no mere curio, either: the communion at
the end dramatises the sharing of suffering, which seems to be the only
comfort for those in hopeless situations.
