A love letter to 70s glam rock told through the eyes of Jimmy and Penny, two children who grew up in a children’s home and were involved in an accident after attending a T. Rex concert.
Timothy Spall
Jimmy
Leanne Best
Penny / Sadie
Mark Lewis Jones
Geraint
Dyfan Dwyfor
Steffan
Mathew Horne
Jez
Holli Dempsey
Zoe
Louis Emerick
Simon
Andrew Lancel
The Vicar
Ruby Snape
Delyth
Terri Dwyer
Gillian
Saffron Rose
Tracey
Sion Tudor Owen
Glyn
Sarah John
Eleri
Matthew George Walsh
Vicar
India Sienna Rose Williams
Janice
Tanaka Mandimika
Scott
Peter Parker Mensah
Mr. Handsome
Phil Furlong
Marc Bolan
Freya Elizabeth Jones
Kathleen Collins
Isaac Lancel-Watkinson
Young Jimmy
Eden Beach
Young Penny
Director, Writer
Ian Puleston-Davies
October 21, 2023
6
Many years after a fatal road accident affected her own family, Marc Bolan super-fans "Penny" (Leanne Best) and her pal "Steffan" (Dylan Dwyfor) head to the site of Bolan's own fatality where there is to be a quietly reflective memorial on the 75th anniversary of his death by a few other stalwarts. It turns out that this site is maintained by an odd looking gent, "Jimmy" (Timothy Spall) - who wouldn't look out of place playing guitar in "Slade, and who upon seeing "Penny" promptly has some sort of fit. It turns out that they have a great deal more in common than you might expect and as the story unfolds we learn a little more about their own trauma and just how it affected the relationship and their lives. Now, aside from them all having attended a T-Rex concert back in the day, meeting the band and acquiring a pair of his glamorous shoes, this film really has very little to do with the legendary musician. It's a melodrama about a family that has faced and struggled to come to terms with tragedy, mental illness and denial - and though it's not bad, it's not especially unique nor interesting either. The ending is quite touching, though - and it will look fine as a gently engaging vehicle for Spall on the television at Christmas.