Typical. You wait ages for a gentle comedy about an unlikely drug dealer and then two come along at the same time. No sooner has Rosie Jones’ C4 sitcom Pushers bedded in than Chicken Town is released, an engagingly quirky tale of dopey folk set on the fringes of Norfolk. Which is apt, because the characters here have norfolking idea how to be dealers.
The action starts with amiable lad Jayce (Ethaniel Davey) returning after being banged up for a crime he didn’t commit. The real perpetrator is Lee (Ramy Ben Fredj) who is living in a run down caravan on the edge of his rich dad’s land.
Jayce wants to know who set him up and why and along the way we meet Jayce's old friend Paula (Amelie Davies) and Kev, played by Graham Fellows, a grandad in his sixties looking for a way to make some money. Maybe those weird cannabis plants that keep growing could top up his benefits…
Fellows will be known to comedy fans as his alter ego John Shuttleworth and if you close your eyes you might think he’s playing Shuttleworth here. The accent sounds pretty similar and the references to his allotment, his wife’s Tupperware and garden centres feel like the kind of thing John might chat about. The difference here – apart from having his hair brushed forwards rather than back – is that you can’t imagine John Shuttleworth dressing like Scarface to sell weed to the local Mr Big (played by comedian Alistair Green).
Chicken Town is directed by Richard Bracewell, who co-wrote it with Patrick Dalton and is clearly made on a pretty small budget (Bracewell teaches film at Norwich University of the Arts and invited graduates to crew as assistants and trainees). Apart from Fellows, Green and Ghosts star Laurence Rickard who has a cameo as a local greasy mechanic, the cast are newcomers. The press release suggests it is influenced by Shane Meadows and Fargo, but it also reminded me of early Bill Forsyth films before he made it big with Local Hero. There’s a whiff of BBC’s Young Offenders about it too.
Like Pushers, Chicken Town takes familiar drug dealing tropes and sees the humour in them. It also tells a story of bonding and reconciliation, with unexpected friendships being formed across the generations. These people might be marginalised by mainstream society through age or background but they come together find common ground. It might have been shot on a slim budget but it is brimming over with charm and heart.
Chicken Town is released on June 27. Certificate 15.
Pictured: Amelie Davies as Paula, Graham Fellows as Kev and Ethaniel Davey as Jayce.
