The Navigators (2001)
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100% of critics liked it
(11 reviews) -
76% of users liked it
(908 ratings)
Acclaimed filmmaker Ken Loach follows up on his 2000 opus Bread and Roses about a Los Angeles janitors' strike with this drama about the privatization of British Rail. Set in South Yorkshire, the film opens with familiar British Rail sign being replaced with a shiny new one reading "East… More Acclaimed filmmaker Ken Loach follows up on his 2000 opus Bread and Roses about a Los Angeles janitors' strike with this drama about the privatization of British Rail. Set in South Yorkshire, the film opens with familiar British Rail sign being replaced with a shiny new one reading "East Midland Infrastructure." For a group of men working at a local train station, this subtle change ends up meaning that their lives have irrevocably changed. When they learn the grim details of this privatization, their chummy sense of community begins to splinter and fall apart. Under the new regime, the customer comes first. While on paper this sounds great, in reality this new arrangement is implemented haphazardly, resulting in bitter fighting and political backstabbing. Some from the old group take the company's severance package while others soldier on. This film was screened in the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Directed By
- Ken Loach
- Written By
- Rob Dawber
- Genres
- Drama, Art House & International, Comedy
R,
- In Theaters
- Feb 21, 2003 Limited
- On DVD
- Dec 2, 2003
- Studio
- First Look Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Loach's characters speak in a sometimes difficult Yorkie accent, but they tell a story anyone can understand.
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Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
Loach has a way of capturing the offhand, unspectacular way people live, with social comedy but minus any sociology.
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James Berardinelli, ReelViews
This is a worthwhile motion picture whose central topic will resonate with many who see it.
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Stephen Carty, Flix Capacitor
Ken Loach instils his usual trademarks - effortless realism, naturalistic dialogue, working class struggles - but the end result is more solid Loach than it is vintage.
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Though not one of Loach's strongest films, his heart is in the rightplace, and his foray into the privatization of the British Railway System and its devstating effects on its workers is still a worthy cause to champion and a worthy film to see.
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Cast
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Dean Andrews
as John
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Tom Craig
as Mick
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Joe Duttine
as Paul
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Steve Huison
as Jim
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Venn Tracey
as Gerry
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Andy Swallow
as Len
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Sean Glenn
as Harpic
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Juliet Bates
as Fiona
- Thomas Craig
- Andy Swallows
- Joe Duttie
