Black Mountain Poets

Two scatterbrained con artists pose as poets in this slight but entertaining offering from British writer/director Jamie Adams. The duo in question are sisters (played by Alice Lowe and Dolly Wells) who are on the run after attempting to steal a JCB. They assume the identity of a pair of siblings who are heading to a poetry retreat in the Black Mountains of Wales. There, they have their sights set on a big cash prize. Although it lacks context and never really rises above sitcom-style farce, the film is lifted by its leads - a neurotic, subtly sorrowful Wells and an amusingly demented Lowe. They are ably supported by Tom Cullen, playing the bemused love interest of both women, and by the stunning work of cinematographer Ryan Eddleston, who imbues proceedings with a somewhat unearned poignancy. The event's social awkwardness is mined effectively and the largely improvised interactions have a breezy appeal, not least given Lowe's comic brio, but the absence of depth and structure means it flails in tandem with its heroines, eventually feeling more flyaway than loose.