Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Patrick Stewart, Macon Blair, Joe Cole, Alia Shawkat, Callum Turner, David W. Thompson, Mark Webber, Eric Edelstein, Brent Werzner, Lj Klink, Taylor Tunes.

America is built on many great cornerstones of achievement and sacrifice, on the blood of many in its home land, on its own soil, such great deeds have been fought and many acts of huge regret encountered; it is also a place where in the shadows, in dark corners and out of the way of prying eyes, certain ways of life, particular individuals wait and prosper by spreading their ideology to the forgotten and disaffected.

For a touring band caught in this nest of certifiable vipers, the chance happening of witnessing a murder in the Green Room of a local’s local bar is enough to send them spiralling towards the inevitable and it is a warning that whilst Rock can be alluring, it can take you to places you might never wish to see or deal with people whose way of life differs to such extremes.

Whilst it is always a pleasure to see the ever dependable Patrick Stewart on screen, there is a pang of remorse in the heart of the film fan that the much loved British actor doesn’t really get the part he deserves, that his time on screen is reduced to sounding menacing and softly giving orders to the neo Nazis who frequent his bar; it feels a waste of immense talent and a part that could have been played by anyone with the same terrifying persuasion.

Green Room is such that the premise is simple and the depth of emotion felt could be interchangeable, there is little to like in any particular character, including the young punk band, however Anton Yelchin, Macon Blair and Imogen Poots as Amber at least have the redemption thrust upon them which carries the film past the bitterness and anger that is rightly forced down the throat as images of such extremism is played out.

Green Room is no Deliverance that is for sure, although the premise and outlook in many ways are there to be witnessed first-hand, nevertheless it does capture a slice of America that is often swept under the carpet, that is neglected because people won’t admit that it exists and yet as the prospect of a nation being divided in two by their own polarised ideologies, Green Room picks up that and shows that there is no hiding place from such thought, it must always be confronted and never allowed to fester.

A film of honesty and integrity, even if the characters feel undeveloped and sparsely used!

Ian D. Hall