Rita, Sue And Bob Too [1986]

Average customer rating:

a way of life

Real satire as it should be made, and so rarely is

Hilarious, gritty Northern sex comedy

Could ONLY have been made in the 80's

Rita, Sue, Bob Too - THE film of the 80's

Rita, Sue And Bob Too [1986]
Starring: Michelle Holmes , Siobhan Finneran , George Costigan , Lesley Sharp , and Kulvinder Ghir
Director: Alan Clarke
Manufacturer: Cinema Club
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

All Comedy | Comedy | Categories | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00004WIA7
Release Date: 2003-09-22

Amazon.co.uk Review

British films about sex are fairly rare, and mostly embarrassing: from the painfully anxious (Brief Encounter) to the hopelessly naff (the Carry On films). What a treat then is Rita, Sue and Bob Too, Alan Clarke's filming of a stage play by young Andrea Dunbar. It's an unsentimental, gleefully lewd comedy about shagging. Tagged for its cinema release in 1987 as "Thatcher's Britain with its knickers down", it even provoked a minor moral hullabaloo in the newspapers.

Rita (Siobhan Finneran) and Sue (Michelle Holmes) are two giggly Bradford lasses stuck on a ramshackle housing estate. They keep themselves in fags by occasional baby-sitting for nouveau riche couple Bob (George Costigan) and Michelle (Lesley Sharp). Bob fancies himself rotten, but Michelle has ruled that sex is off the menu. So one night, driving Rita and Sue home, Bob detours to the Yorkshire moors and offers the girls a little something extra in his front seat. Rita and Sue decide to grab it while they can.

Alan Clarke's cult following is founded on his bleak, brilliant films about violent young men (Scum, The Firm, Made in Britain). But Rita, Sue is a tribute to Clarkey's ribald sense of humour. It even sports a cameo from novelty pop-act Black Lace, performing their non-hit "Gang-Bang". Teenage debutantes Holmes and Finneran are terrific--just watch them dancing lustily around Bob's red leather sofa to Bananarama. In support, Clarke wisely cast skilled northern comedians like Patti Nicholls and Willie Ross, as Sue's foul-mouthed mum and dad. Amid the laughs, Clarke as usual doesn't stint from showing us the harsh, unlovely side of life. He shot the film on location at Bradford's Buttershaw estate, where Andrea Dunbar grew up and where, tragically, she died of a brain haemorrhage only a few years after the film's release. --Richard Kelly

Customer Reviews:

a way of life.......2007-08-15

a great film for a laugh. my favourite character has to be willi ross, the drunk. unfortunatley, he passed away in 2001. what a great comedian.

Real satire as it should be made, and so rarely is.......2007-08-05

This low budget, C4 funded film managed to do what a lot of far grander, less humble films have failed to do. It successfully satirises an entire class of people, including many sub classes within it. It manages this because it is made by people from that same group. They are having a laugh about themselves, and see a lot to be laughed at. It is fabulously filthy in its tone, and its satirical glare is far encompassing and wildly accurate, or seems to be (to a non-northerner). Despite the low budget feel, and awful 80s trash soundtrack, it produces moments of cinematic greatness, my favourite probably being the characterisation of Rita's alcaholic wreck of a dad, who puts his trousers on leaving his shirt tails sticking out of his flies, among other things. Superb! For a section of society so badly served and looked upon by its government, it shows the one true virtue it has is a sense of humour. This was stinging, genuine satire. A very good achievement, and what a loss the death of the writer of this original work was to the industry. This was real writing, for a change. Wonderfull stuff.

Hilarious, gritty Northern sex comedy.......2006-05-16

Rita, Sue And Bob Too was adapted by Andrea Dunbar from two of her own controversial plays. Rita (Siobhan Finneran) and Sue (Michelle Holmes) are two teenagers living on a run-down council estate in Bradford who both share a job babysitting for Bob (George Costigan) and Michelles (Lesley Sharp) children. Whilst giving them a lift home one night, Bob decides to take Rita and Sue up to a deserted, country-side landscape. Clearly knowing what he has in mind, Rita and Sue are only too happy to oblige and both have a sexual encounter with him that becomes a regular occurence. Despite the blatant politically-incorrect nature of the film, this does emerge as a somewhat controversial, though enduringly amusing film that has a sharp, gritty undertone. The film shifts direction half way through but shrewdly brings the characters all back together again and the ending is hilarious! Michelle Holmes, Siobhan Finneran and George Costigan (all respected T.V actors/esses) play their parts perfectly, displaying a raw and instinctive edge to their characterisations. The film was released in the mid 1980's and has stood the test of time, still making enjoyable viewing today. Worth watching.

Could ONLY have been made in the 80's.......2004-05-25

Ok so you know the basic story yeah?
Randy thirtysomething cassanova seduces his two teenage baby sitters!
The story is pretty paper thin but the performances from all the actors in this cult classic make this a very very enjoyable film.
The language is coarse and some racism too but in a film where the whole plot surrounds what is basically a peodophile this is not surprising.

Like I said this film could ONLY have been made in the 80's if it where to be released now there would be a national outcry to get it banned but as somebody has already pointed out this could "SO happen".

The film is set in a run down coucil estate where Bob and his wife pay a couple of "young lasses" to baby sit, Bob tries it on (with great sucess) one night while driving them home. The story unfolds with a few mild twists and turns but as stated the sheer quality of the performance makes this a very enjoyable movie which you will no doubt watch again and again (unless you are easily offended)

Rita, Sue, Bob Too - THE film of the 80's.......2004-04-22

This has got to be THE film of the 80's and for the generation of people living through this decade this is certainly a film they can identify with. Maggie's britain at it's "best". A great portrayal of hard-ship and struggle on a northern council estate. A classic representation of what went on then and still goes on today. One of the best films I have ever viewed which touches on the truth.

Average customer rating:

Rita, Sue And Bob Too [1986]
Starring: George Costigan , Siobhan Finneran , Michelle Holmes , and Lesley Sharp
Director: Alan Clarke
Manufacturer: Channel 4 DVD
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

All Comedy | Comedy | Categories | DVD | Video

All Drama | Drama | Categories | DVD | Video

Comedy | Drama | Categories | DVD | Video

DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000S399HY
Release Date: 2007-09-17

UK DVD:

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