The film gives an alternative and "non-tourist" view over Glasgow area where drugs, alcohol and violence are daily part of life and struggle through this is impossible without outside support. Autumn grayness accentuates the daily gloom and moments of hope are too brief - and always associated with a "catch". Ken Loach is a gifted director and the plot intensity is excellently exploited, but the script itself is too lopsided to me.As for the actors, Martin Compston as Liam outperforms all the others; he is really great in portraying a soon-to-be 16-years-old "ned" as they say in Scotland. Other characters are too briefly on screen and at times incomprehensible (e.g. Pinball). Sweet Sixteen could be a strong warning film for teens, but due to hard language it is forbidden to minors in most countries... It is no family film anyway.

How I love Ken Loach! How I love DVDs that offer subtitles, 'cos Loach movies absolutely need subtitles, especially this one with its thick working class Scots accents (fascinating that the English language has somehow incorporated this almost medieval dialect). Loach takes us to places we would never go to in The Disneyland Tourist world that we are sold as the 'real'world, but of course it isn't - Loach's world is the real one and his actors are real people, brilliantly directed, or allowed to be as natural as possible in a context of the narrative.The title is deceptive -one thinks one is going to see a teen coming-of-age movie in the American tradition (learning how to seduce romantic conquests, learning how to be 'marketable" - but it's a teen movie in the tradition of a socio-political context, absolutely unheard of in the American movie tradition.

Liam is a teenager surrounded by crime and poverty all around him. His step-father and grandfather having him smuggling drugs in to his mother's prison for her to sell on, while his activities with friend pinball can only politely be described as "anti-social". With his mother due to be released in only a few months, Liam is determined to get her a new start along with him, his sister and her young son. However his opportunities for getting money to set them up is limited and he steals drugs from his step-father's stash and tries to deal them off as quick as possible to make the money he needs.At times watching a Ken Loach film is a bit like being having your face pushing down into something unpleasant for two hours; occasionally you get to come up and take a breath of fresh air but you are quickly pushed right back down again soon enough. So it is with Sweet Sixteen, which sets us down in a Scottish world of poverty and crime where "opportunity" is having a good supply and a good spot to sell, while being seen as having "potential" means that you can sell without using the stash yourself. Typically for those trapped within this sort of world, the goal is to get out of the situation but using the situation to do it but, unlike Jay Z, the story rarely sees the protagonists living to rich old lives married to the sexiest pop diva around.In Liam's story his hope is not to become rich but just to get out of the area and hopefully get a normal life with his mother. The entrapping nature of his world is seen in the need to get in deeper in order to get out and so it goes. The gritty, depressing locations and the frequent, strong language are only cosmetic things that suggest the problem because really the grittiness is all in the characters and their situations. Laverty's script brings these out well without ever making it come over a preaching or hand-wringing, instead he just presents it for what it is, which is far from cheerful. It is depressing watching but yet quite compelling and convincing as it paints a world where "bettering oneself" is nothing more than liberal wishful thinking. Although tit isn't fair to criticise this story for being unrelentingly bleak, it is hard to watch it and, once seen, I cannot imagine why anyone would wish to rewatch it again even within the medium term.The cast work well with the script though. Compston is convincingly ratty and very much the type of kid that most of us would avoid eye-contact with; however he manages to find the person in there early on, so that he can then do a good job of losing that same person as it goes on. Ruane has a simpler role but works OK it in, likewise Fulton, Abercromby and others all turn in natural performances. Credit to Loach again because he has drawn out convincing performances despite working with a mostly young cast.There is no getting away from the fact that this is a depressing and bleak portrayal of life in poverty but, although not one you'll watch over and over again, it is an impressive and engaging film.

i don't think this film should be an 18 - i was only sixteen when i saw it, the main actor was only 15/16 when it was made, along with most of the main characters. So technically they weren't allowed to watch the film they had made! There is nothing in this film that is going to offend anyone, 16 year olds can watch a lot worse than this! There is a lot of swearing in it but what teenagers don't swear?! i think its a brilliant film and should be available for people that are the age of the character 'Liam' to see! i enjoyed the film when i was only sixteen and there was nothing in it that i didn't understand or that offended me!