Crown and Anchor: How Childhood Trauma Affects the Future
Director: Andrew Rowe
Writer: Andrew Rowe, Michael Rowe, Matt Wells (Screenplay)
Starring: Michael Rowe, Matt Wells, Natalie Brown, Robert Joy, Stephen McHattie, Ben Cotton, Jonathan Watton
Plot: A raw look at the effects of childhood trauma through the eyes of two estranged cousins.
Runtime: 1 Hour 59 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Tension Filled
Story: Crown and Anchor starts when police officer James (Rowe) returns home for his mother’s funeral, with his estranged drug abusing criminal cousin Danny (Wells) having already dealt with the formalities. James isn’t happy and stays away from most of the family apart from Doug (Joy) who informs him of a drug problem in the town.
James decides that he wants to look to end the problem in the town, getting Danny out of the problem he has found himself in and finally facing the childhood trauma they both went through.
Thoughts on Crown and Anchor
Characters – James is a police officer with a violent side, he keeps his isolated working out listening to aggressive metal music when off duty, he did suffer a trauma as a child and with his mother’s passing things have only gotten worse for him, returning home he wants to fix the drug problem in his hometown which will see him clashing with his cousin. Danny is the druggie criminal who has just lost his job, he has turned to crime for money to support his family, only to learn this has started to cause more problems with the security of money coming into the family, along with James he suffered a childhood trauma which is why he has reacted the way his has too. The rest of the characters we met are family who have their own stories about the cousins and the crime boss who wants to stay in power, with plenty of threats through the film.
Performances – Michael Rowe and Matt Wells are both our main performers, they are both intense with their roles from either side of the law, we get to see the emotional impact that both have with what has happened to them in the past. The supporting cast all work for this film without getting tested to the levels of the leads.
Story – The story here follows two relatives that suffered a childhood trauma and have gone in completely different directions in their lives, while still battling the demons that they are suffering through from their past. This story does try to show how reluctant men are to talk about their emotional traumas they have suffered in life, turning to different vices to help them, be it drink, drugs or violence, we get to see how they can become distant because of their action. One of the weaker sides of the story comes from the pacing, which does make the opening part of the film feel like it is dragging along and it is getting into the truth which is what we want to learn the most about in the film.
Crime – The crime side of the film follows the two cousins that have gone either side of the law, using their positions to commit crimes, with the police officer going across the line, while the criminal falling deeper into the criminal world he has been drawn towards.
Settings – The film is set in one city which has seen a drug problem start to take over, one man wants to stop this to save his family, it shows us just how different worlds can be created for these people to be living in.
Scene of the Movie – Lucky shot.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Slow starting.
Final Thoughts – This is a slow paced film that does want to tackle a couple of serious issues going on in the world, we have strong leading performance to keep everything going strong through the film.
Overall: Nice drama even if it has a slow start.
