Cert TBA
76 mins
BBFC advice: TBA
Just occasionally I wonder whether documentary-makers get a little too close to their subjects.
I venture this thought after watching Lotfy Nathan's movie about the dirt-bike riders of Baltimore, the so-called 12 O'Clock Boys.
In the view of their detractors, they are a dangerous menace whose high-speed wheelies plague the streets of the American city.
From their perspective they are persecuted by the police who have no empathy for their culture and even threaten their safety.
From the outside it is hard to see how their one-eyed stance and consequent disregard for others (bystanders, including children, have been injured) could be justified.
Nathan's film doesn't really question what appears to be an entirely selfish attitude.
Actually, I found it more insightful when it came to exploring the levels of deprivation in suburban America.
This is not the United States we usually see in the movies - you know, the one where everyone has huge houses with picket fences and smile through beautiful white teeth.
Here, children run wild and have feckless parents whose language is punctuated with the f-word and n-word every other sentence.
It's not too surprising, therefore, that youngsters' role models tend to be adults who, despite flirting with the law, have the admiration of the neighbourhood.
The film focuses on Pug, a young lad who is desperate to become one of the 12 O'Clock Boys to the point that he imitates their moves when he is not on the streets hanging around them.
Nathan follows him over three years in which he graduates from wannabee to the fringe of their circle.
What stands out is that the boy has great potential but could be guided in one of two very different directions. The sadness is that the voices luring him towards the wrong path are the loudest.
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 5.5/10