Cemetery Junction

The confidently sustained story, the build-up of emotional resonance and the parochial aspirationalism that characterise Cemetery Junction are all of a piece with the sitcom work of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.

The film focuses on three pals entering adulthood in 1973 Reading: Bruce (Tom Hughes) is all swaggering bravado; Snork (Tom Doolan) is a clown; and apprentice insurance salesman Freddie (Christian Cooke) is knuckling down to a life of bourgeois comfort he hasn't quite sold himself on yet. He finds a kindred spirit in childhood crush Julie (Felicity Jones), whose slimy dad (Ralph Fiennes) and fiancé (Matthew Goode) - Freddie's boss and mentor at the insurance firm - have decidedly lower opinions of her potential. There are laughs, but this isn't quite a comedy.

The film often leans heavily enough on its models to feel formulaic, and its romances map too closely on to those of The Office. Overall, though, it's refreshing to see a mainstream British film with the ambition to strut its stuff on studio terms. Aspirational indeed.