This is a rather interesting piece. It does follow a fictional alcoholic young man who quits his lame job as a clerk for a shop that sells pornography to equally sad customers, and joins the Clash as an apprentice roadie. Intermixed with the fiction is excellent concert footage of the Clash before they made it big in the States, just not enough of it. Also, it provides an accurate snapshot of pre-Thatcher Britain. The Brixton race riots contrasted with that of neo-nazi demostrations, provides a background to Ray Gange's narrative as the man with no future. His only solace in the Stalinist Tower Block Flats is playing the Clash's first album on his very cheap turntable. Even the rather stark sex scene in the women's bathroom in some club doesn't provide relief, since she runs off while he is cashing in his unemployment check at some streetside bank.

The minuses: The story and the acting is pretty lame at times.

The plusses: Excellent concert footage, what there is of it, gives a great idea of the Clash's performance at the time. Police and Thieves performed live here is, I believe, superior to the album cut. Plus, the producers of the movie included a clip of the original song, which I wished was complete, being a reggae fan. Another plus is the 100% accuracy of what England, especially London, was like during that time. It was a wasteland in the city, a concrete jungle. It is not much surprise, with hindsight, that the Clash and the Sex Pistols became so popular back then. Unfortunately, it seemed to have brought about Thatcher's election, also documented in the movie, which frankly doesn't make much sense to me, but I will leave politics out of this. Let's just say it made things worse for much of the very people the Clash appealed to.