You know what THEY say, don't you. THEY say start with a joke and "A Boy Called Dad" starts with belly laugh. With a great running gag of an unseen conversation coming from a bus stop as the boy of the title becomes a dad (at least from a conception point of view) the film hits the ground running. The film speeds through the aftermath of this scene with a distant first love's waters breaking in the classroom and confused Robbie's reaction to being a father. The fast paced narrative is handled cleverly and doesn't miss any required beats to get the story on its feet.

"A Boy Called Dad" has an appropriate 'say what you see' title telling the story of Robbie (Kyle Ward) an abandoned son, reunited with a wayward father Joe (the fabulous Ian Hart) and the feelings that evokes for the 14 year old new dad.

I saw this film as a part of the Salford Film Festival on Friday the 20th of November this year.

After the bus stop conception, the first act is about the happenstance meeting of Robbie and his wastrel dad Joe, a compulsive liar and gambler. They rediscover their relationship, bonded by the one perfect moment in their past. One perfect day when Robbie, Joe and his mum enjoyed a traditional family holiday at a North Wales seaside town. The fact that this memory is also the moment when Joe walked out on them, apparently for good, makes the memory all the more bitter sweet.

Ian Hart employs all of his considerable charm to make Joe realistically compelling as the man who constantly bottles his responsibilities but is still believably loved. A telling scene of Joe turning tail at the hospital door of his father's deathbed tells you all you need to know about Joe's propensity to chicken out at the moments when he's most needed to be strong. And now, for the spoilers…

Inevitably, he bails on Robbie and growing love turns to disillusionment and anger at the dad who could never be relied on. Running in parallel is the story Leanne, the mother of his son, with an older and more menacing boyfriend snarling at Robbie to keep his distance.

When Joe inevitably leaves a trail of lies and hurt in his wake when he runs away from problems that come with being the father of a troubled 14 year old, it prompts Robbie to go on a voyage with his own son. His voyage begins badly with a tragic accident after an altercation with his son's bad lad adoptive dad.

He chooses to run away with his son to the one place he felt safe in his past.

The story begins anew as Robbie must struggle with the realities of fatherhood, the problems of getting food and shelter whilst on the run from the police. Changing his first nappy becomes an epic struggle and film does not shy away from the real experience that a demanding baby can bring.

Robbie's mum and Leanne cling to each other in fear for Robbie and son. Joe finally faces up to his responsibility's as he's the only one with the vital clue that can locate his Robbie and his grandson.

Whilst seeking shelter in a barn Robbie encounters a mute girl Nia (Charlene McKenna) on an isolated Welsh farm with a troubled history of her own.

The film explores themes of loss and hope; fatherhood (both traditional and teen pregnancy) and responsibility; family and loyalty; innocence and blooming sexuality with the penetrating naturalism of Ken Loach and the lyrical poetic visuals of Terence Malick or Yimou Zhang. Credit must go to both director Brian Percival and DoP David Katznelson for the sensitive use of light and setting. A scene that particularly stands out is a painful moment amongst the long grass between Robbie and Nia as she uses his need to remain hidden to exorcise a ghost from her past.

Praise must also go to a beautiful cast troupe of actors who never miss nor misstep a single beat of this perceptive drama. Special mention should go to Kyle Ward, who manages troubled, desperate, funny, warm and angry with all the skill of an actor well beyond his years. One thing is certain. Without Ian Hart's ability to make the cowardly bad father Joe into a hilarious lovable rogue, the film would fall at an early hurdle. We want him to be the dad Robbie deserves and Hart treads the fine line between charm and tragedy beautifully.

Special mention also for Charlene McKenna's Nia, whose tragic past caused her initial voiceless nature and whose chance meeting with Robbie gives her the opportunity to face and deal with that past. Her silence is incredibly eloquent in Charlene's hands and her story is the bedrock of the second act of this film.

If I have criticisms of this film it would be that the story does drift on to new themes with the inclusion of Nia. The core story of Robbie's journey of discovery of the reality of fatherhood takes somewhat of a back seat when her character appears. Her story is, however, so mysterious and compelling that the diversion isn't necessarily an unhappy one.

The climax of the film is surprising, heart warming and heartbreaking in equal measures.

This film manages to tread a fine line between realism and melodrama and fuses naturalism and poetic visuals so successfully.

I laughed, I cried and I thought. What more could you ask for.

This film is not something I would purposely seek out to watch, it isn't something that would catch my eye if I stumbled on the trailer, but it is something that I am glad to have been shown to. I only watched this as part of my exam preparation for Media Studies and I honestly think it is one of the most eye opening things I have ever seen. It covers issues that are very much alive today and really gets to the raw emotion of the situation Robbie is placed in. The film is incredibly well made and I seriously recommend that people go out and buy it, I promise that you will like it, even if you don't expect that you will. A Boy Called Dad proves the potential that independent film makers have and has blasted a massive hole in the market to be filled with feature films just like this that are hugely successful in doing what they do and are just as worthy of viewers as big Hollywood films we all go to see.

You don't have to have a child yourself to feel the emotion seeping out of every frame of this affecting film - everyone will relate to the themes of regret, responsibility and second chances.

A great performance by Kyle Ward, for his first film role he shows a real depth of emotion and surprising subtlety at times and Ian Hart in the role of his absent father is great as always.

An emotionally charged, and in places extremely funny, script combined with some breathtaking cinematography lift 'A Boy Called Dad' above many of its contemporaries. The result is a film that won't just tug at the heart strings, but will shear right through them. A simple story told with honesty and integrity; one that will stay with you long after you've left the cinema.

Saw this film as part of the Best of the Fest in Edinburgh Film Festival. Whilst it has its flaws (particularly re the lack of representation of any real women characters) this is more than made up for by main story (which focuses on the Dads) which is moving and captivating and the performance of newcomer Kyle Ward (Robbie) alongside Ian Hart as his Dad. The film centres upon fatherhood and whether the chain of bad dads can be broken by Robbie. His interaction with his young baby son, inspired by his own treatment by his dad is especially moving, as is the reaction of the Welsh girl (Nia) he meets on the run with her own father. Definitely worth seeing especially if you have kids or intend to have them and fancy a cry!

Have just come back from the Edinburgh Film Festival and having seen lots of films there, including the more popular, bigger budget films, this one really stands out as something special. Whilst watching the film I cried with laughter and cried with heartfelt emotion for the characters and their excellent portrayal of their situation. Brilliant acting and gorgeous scenery and camera work. I defy anyone to see this film and not enjoy it! Ian hart, as always, gives a very special, genuine performance but the most surprising performance is the effort put forward from the young lad who plays the teenage dad who goes on the run with his son. It's so heartening to see a depiction of teenage dads which isn't so incredibly negative. I didn't know what to expect but I can know say that I'm so glad to have seen this film.

For those who praised both the directing and writing of A Boy Called Dad might like to know that Brian Percival (who directed the multi-award winning ITV drama 'Downton Abbey') won a BAFTA along with screenwriter Julie Rutherford. That was a short, About A Girl, in 2001.

This re-teaming in 2009, a small £1million budget and a welcome star name of Ian Hart have produced a modest little gem of a Brit movie, filmed in Liverpool and north Wales. A Boy Called Dad stars 14 y.o. Kyle Ward, a natural and fine performance (though according to IMDb, hasn't been in anything since) from a lad who has a one night stand - and then fatherhood. The mother of the child has little contact with Robbie (Ward) and lives separately.

Enter jack-the-lad Robbie's Dad, a cheeky Liverpudlian with a VW pickup. He left Robbie and his mother some years before and says that he had moved to Ireland, when he had in fact, not. Robbie, after some reacquainting and bonding with his Dad, feels rejected and goes off the rails, kidnaps his own son and makes off in a car.

The film does have its moments of action, bursts of anger and a lot of quiet moments of contemplation and emotion. It won't suit everyone, though its very humanity should appeal to us all. It's whether we choose to actually sit down and watch it rather than something more gimmicky and instantly gratifying. It's not a great movie, but a good one.

Director Brian Percival manages to maintain an even keel between the social relevance of teenage pregnancy and keeping the audience grounded in a young boy's innocence.

Following this personal journey from boyhood to fatherhood is a captivating and precious experience that is sure to tug on your heartstrings.

Julie Rutterford's dialogue is spot-on and the acting is brilliant. Ian Hart gives a great performance as Robbie's dead-beat dad and Kyle Ward (14-year old Robbie) brings a genuine honesty and reality to this film.

This intimate drama is not to be missed and a story that should never to be forgotten.

Boy Called Dad- How good it was to see a refreshing, moving and relevant British film, something I've not seen since other low budget films like "This is England and Trainspotting". This is a film with a genuine desire to tell a story, convey a message, entertain and educate all with such integrity. The script was imaginative and real, the acting first class with characters we all know from the street round the corner. To see a film that is shot around my own childhood haunts such as the sea front at West Kirby instead of some distant exotic location is exciting and very pleasing. I hope this film launches Made Up North Productions into the mainstream of the British film industry as it should. Well worth a trip to see if you have the chance.

About a boy named Robbie who goes on a fantastic journey with his baby son. Robbie at first, see's his son occasionally from the babies mother. Later Robbie takes the baby from it's mothers boyfriend in which he thrillingly shoots the boyfriend in the foot and takes his car. This shows how much Robbie Cares about the baby and shows his rebellious side. Robbie then runs away in the car and this is where the storyline begins to unfold. Along the way you see the relationship the boy has with his father, the relationship between the boy and his baby son and where the boy has to hide out. Fantastic film, definitely worth seeing.

This film could have so easily been lacklustre, miserable, tedious and dismal. After all it's about a fourteen year old (I think?)lad who goes on the run with his small baby, another reminder of the UK's spiralling teenage pregnancy rates. BUT IT'S NOT ANY OF THESE THINGS!!. A Boy called Dad is heartwarming, funny, yeah it's sad and I cried loads as did some of my friends, but this film manages a really difficult theme with great dignity and flair. I identified with someone who, on paper, I wouldn't have thought was possible but you can't help but imagine yourself on this young teenage dad's journey of unplanned fatherhood and the warm expansion of the love he feels for this helpless and lovable little mite. You feel sorry for them both and eventually proud of the young dad for having coped and developed so much as a decent human being.

I love Ian Hart's acting and he's always good value for money. Oh God, Robbie (the young lad) and his baby in the barn with the beautiful light shining on them both asleep (Don 't worry this point not essential to the plot!). Absolutely gorgeous. It reminded me a little of the Hayley Mills film when the kids find a man they think is Jesus. The bit that made me weep buckets though was the sub-plot of the beautiful welsh girl - won't tell you what happens as would spoil it! If I had to describe the film it would be as hard as nails but heartbreakingly sweet.

First saw this film at the opening night of the Wirral Film Festival in Merseyside. This film is excellent, & is moving and captivating and the performance of newcomer Kyle Ward (Robbie) alongside Ian Hart as his Dad. The film centres upon fatherhood and whether the chain of bad dads can be broken by Robbie. His interaction with his young baby son, inspired by his own treatment by his dad is especially moving, as is the reaction of the Welsh girl (Nia) he meets on the run with her own father. There are beautiful artistic camera shots of the countryside, Definitely worth seeing especially if you have kids or intend to have them and fancy a cry!

I think that overall A boy called dad is a very deep and very enjoyable movie. At first glance the film seems to be about teenage pregnancy, but there are so many more aspects to it. Such as how the method of fatherhood gets passed down through the generations and how the protagonist changes as he takes care of his son. I thought that Kyle Ward did a great job as Robbie, you could see that he was capable of great compassion but at the same time he could get very angry, overall the standard of acting was high all round. The cinematography was very lush, they chose to go lightly on the colour correction which gave it a more realistic feel but it the shots still look fantastic and compel you to watch on. The story was well written and the dialogue felt natural and original which was great. I would have liked to have seen more of the mother of Robbie's son, we don't see much of her throughout the movie and we never hear any of her story which could be quite interesting. But the story is mainly about the four generations of this family. There are some points when I felt like I had no idea what Robbie's plan was or what he was trying to do which didn't really achieve the exciting effect it should have. But these moments can be forgiven, the rest of the story is very compelling and will keep you on the edge of your seat at the end. Overall I really enjoyed A boy called Dad, especially the ending which I thought was very clever.

This film kept getting pushed down to the bottom of my 'to watch' list, but I'm really glad that I got to it in the end.

It was refreshing to see a teenage pregnancy story that took us out of grimy (sub)urban life, instead offering expansive views of country and coastline. So although many of the themes were difficult and at times harrowing, these extreme wide shots gave us a bit of room to breathe.

This film also took us away from the female, or more accurately, the mother, which again is unusual for a story dealing with teenage pregnancy. Robbie's mum is always kept at a distance and behind a barrier, such as at the end of an unanswered phone. Subsequent to his rapid conception and birth, baby Elliot's mum is only seen walking in the background now and again. This allowed the film to effectively focus on father-son relationships spanning four generations.

However, this focus on the father figure almost left me craving a little feminine input, if only for the sake of balance. Luckily, the film delivered on this through the initially mute character, Nia, who has a story to tell and eventually manages to tell it.

Another interesting aspect to do with storytelling is the portrayal of the media. The newspaper headlines and TV snippets paint the picture of a dangerous, possibly armed menace. The film will then cut to young Robbie lovingly taking care of his child, thus undermining this face-of-evil built up by the media. We're reminded that this is about an individual on a journey.

After recurring references to drowning and water, Robbie's journey unsurprisingly culminates in a cliff edge. As with all ambiguous endings, I have an ambiguous response. Half of me applauds the film for ending with such suspense. The other half just wants to know what happened...

This is a drama about the father/son relationship. It follows Robbie a new 14 year old father whose disappointment with his relationship with his father leads him to make some wrong decisions concerning his new born son.

It is a well acted but bleak tale with an excellent performances from Kyle Ward as the young lad who wants to look after his son but is woefully under prepared for such a task. Ian Hart also does a good job as the stay away father that his son doesn't want to turn into.

A Boy Called Dad maybe would have benefited by following a more traditional path like the strong start of the movie as the situations that occur later are pretty implausible. As a result it does feel like this was a missed opportunity to create something really special. The middle of the film feels contrived but the ending I thought was pretty thought provoking and pulled the film back from disappointment.

This is a good small budget film and one I enjoyed and would recommend.

A Boy Called Dad is a truly amazing film about family, love and responsibility.

Shot fantastically well with a great realist look, along with some amazing acting performances from Ian Hart and especially from the young Kyle Ward in his first feature film role which at times was very subtle and touching.

A true inspiration, this is a brilliant low budget independent UK film which will definitely tug at the heartstrings with an ending which will leave you asking questions. I would recommend adding this touching film to your DVD collection as a guarantee everybody will enjoy it.

British TV drama, shaped by the demands of the half-hour soap opera, is simultaneously tawdry and melodramatic. It is a place in which underdeveloped, stereotypical characters stumble their way through repetitive, overcooked story lines, and indulge on an almost weekly basis in overacted, breast-beating histrionics. This is drama boiled right down to a series of clashes and confrontations, a chain of Big Dramatic Scenes, with no space between them. There is never any sense of the day-to-day, normal lives of characters, the moments when they are not caught up in the middle of some major event, trauma, or emotional upheaval.

A BOY CALLED DAD takes a similarly heightened approach to narrative, but the effect is worlds away from the cheap sensationalism of early evening soap opera. True, considered in isolation, the film's plot various plot elements might seem as melodramatic as those of any issue-led soap: a fourteen-year-old boy, Robbie, impregnates a class-mate, who rejects him in favour of a petty hoodlum, who ill-treats the child: by an improbably coincidence, the boy is reunited with his own estranged father, an affable but unreliable wastrel, who eventually lets him down; a confrontation with the hoodlum boyfriend of his classmate results in the boy shooting the hoodlum and absconding with the baby; on the run, he finds himself in Wales, where he befriends a young woman who has been traumatised by childhood sexual abuse. The film might thus seem like a chain of improbable incidents and actions which exist solely to set up the scenario through which certain issues may be explored.

But to offer such a bare synopsis is to ignore director Brian Percival's approach to such generic-seeming material. Opting for a lyrical, elliptical style, influenced as much by European filmmakers such as Bresson or the Dardenne Brothers, as by the usual suspects of British Social realism, Percival minimises melodrama in favour of something rather more meditative. This is a lean, spare film, which focuses on location as much as it does on character; offsetting tense, twitchy hand-held close-ups of the characters' faces with smooth, tracking long shots as they move through the film's varying urban and rural landscapes. The effect is both to anchor the drama in a wider world, and also to provide sufficient space and quiet time to offset the story's noisier dramatic flourishes, which are themselves often consciously underplayed. The film often presents its key moments of confrontation and revelation partially off screen, or in silence, focusing on face and body language rather than resorting to the habitual expository, explanatory dialogue and mannered shouting of British TV drama. Performances are low-key and naturalistic, and Kyle Ward is remarkable, both in his scenes with the always excellent Ian Hart, and also in those with the baby, which convey all of the anxieties and joys of fatherhood.

Sure, there are flaws, where the British inclination for melodrama and soap operatics threaten to take hold. The moment in which the hoodlum boyfriend, little more than a cockney accented cipher from a Danny Dyer flick, produces a gun to see off the 13 year old protagonist is faintly absurd. A knife would have been sufficient and more plausible in the circumstances. The entire mid section, in which the protagonist finds himself on a farm in Wales and befriends a lonely, troubled young woman could easily be viewed as a digression; a misjudged homage to WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND, which also finds time to deal with that currently most over-used of dramatic clichés, child abuse. But it could equally be argued that the whole film is actually about the iniquities of parents upon their children; the damage wrought by cruelty, neglect, or denial. Here it is not the girl's father who is the abuser but her father's brother - and the estrangement that exists between father and daughter is due to the fact that neither has been able to deal with the fact. This is ultimately a film which shows parents and children trying to cope with the consequences of their actions, to face up to truths they have tried to bury, and to rebuild their relationships. Narratively, the sequence might seem digressive, but thematically it is right on target, and it moves the protagonist forward on his journey to responsibility. The final emotional confrontation between father and son has its origins in the shouty moments of confrontation and closure that characterise soap opera, but the scene must be offset against the understated way in which we discover the cruel irony that Robbie's memory of the last good holiday he had with his parents is actually the moment his parents split up. And the final confrontation itself unleashes not a tirade of recrimination from Robbie against his all-too-fallible father, merely the weary exhortation to "do something".

All in all, this is a visually striking and emotionally powerful little film, filled with wry humour, pathos, and genuine tenderness. Its faults may be attributed perhaps to growing pains, as it attempts to shift British cinema away from the soap operatic take on social realism that characterises most attempts at "serious" film drama in the UK, and reaches towards something quieter, more contemplative, less prescriptive in the impressions it wishes to create in the audience. A bold move in the right direction.

A BOY CALLED DAD - TRASH IT ( C- ) I was really enthusiastic about this movie, the subject is quite riveting and shocking but I was so disappointed to see that writer and director choose the easy way out. Instead of discussing a teenage pregnancy issue and how a 14 years old deal with being a dad, it became an abduction and Runaway story. Director didn't bother to discuss about how he felt when his 14yrs old girl friend got pregnant or what did his parents thought about it or why the girl didn't told her family who is the father? There are so many things which were not address in the movie. The director's focus was more on the 14 years old rebellious nature rather then the issue people actually went to see the movie. It is heart hitting just because we are watching a 14 years old with 6 month child on Run but if you look into the substance you will realize that the writer and director play us off. There are some sequences which look very filmy or movie oriented rather then original and real. 1. Why the 19 years old boy had the gun, he didn't look like a criminal nor does every other teen in U.K carry gun like that. It was really filmy. 2. There is another sequence where the boy hides in the barn and meets another weirdo teenage girl. That whole sequence was touchy but it looked unrealistic and when she ask or kind of blackmail him to sleep with her otherwise she won't return his 6 month child looked very desperate of director to put some hardcore scene in it. 3. In the end when Boy wants to jump off the cliff with his baby, that was too much plus the father of the boy is standing there and does nothing besides weeping. And the moment his son jumps off the cliff why the hell his father didn't grape him from the hood or at least tried anything. It all looked so fake and the director just wanted to give movie a tragic and sad ending, it reminded me of Robert Pattison's "Remember Me", where the performances were 1st rate but the director's utmost attempt to make the movie saddest to the core made the movie rather unbelievable and unreal. Kyle ward did a fantastic job as a young boy and the baby was really cute too. I truly wised that director would have chosen more realistic approach rather then total filmy drama approach. The person who finds the movie heart hitting is only because watching a teenage boy with an infant on Run defiantly looks heart hitting. Look into the substance you will realize who desperate director was to make the movie saddest and eventually unreal.

When he becomes a father at the tender age of 14, Robbie's life quickly spirals out of control.

Feeling angry and neglected by his own dad, he starts a series of events that will catapult him at great speed into adulthood.....

Even though the first five minutes had me fooled into thinking that this could have been some kind of Shane meadows type comedy, this has an air of gloom from the off-start.

But even though this feeling stays with the film right until the very last frame, it's a good story, told with a very truthful tone throughout, and with some outstanding performances from the central characters.

The first act is the bonding segment between father and Son, which is very sweet and Jolly, but if you notice throughout this part of the film, the weather becomes increasingly dull and cold, and this indicates the decline of the boys attitude.

The film from there on has a really dark sympathetic side to it. Even though the boy has done something bad, you do in some weird way wish him well on his journey, in the sense that he looks after the child well.

like i've already said, it's a solid movie, but thoroughly depressing.