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.

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.

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.