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Review

An intimate, heartfelt drama from director Frears, who returns to the more personal kind of filmmaking that defined his early career, Liam is a captivating, lyrical portrait of one family's struggle against poverty and, sometimes, themselves. Set in 1930s Liverpool, the story is seen through the eyes of the adorable eight-year-old Liam (Borrows), an impish, wide-eyed heartbreaker who is too distracted by his upcoming First Communion to initially notice all the family tension caused by his father's unemployment. But notice it he will, as the family gradually disintegrates when his father (I. Hart) looks for salvation with a group of fascists. Unlike the similarly themed and set Angela's Ashes, an undercurrent of humor is used to offset the tragic events happening around them, bringing more definition to all the characters. Like its namesake, Liam sees a most difficult world and approaches it with charm, resilience and promise.