England has recently produced a string of films that could best be described as the cultural equivalent of America's "boys in the hood" trend: movies that dwell on the bleak existence of working-class British youths and their run-ins with drugs, violence, and crime. Call it "boys on the dole." Some of the most vibrant British filmmaking in recent years, movies like Trainspotting, Nil By Mouth, and even The Full Monty, have fit this bill. TwentyFourSeven is the feature debut of director Shane Meadows, who at 25 isn't far removed from the cast of his promising black-and-white film debut. But the film actually centers on Bob Hoskins, who plays an aging and lonely bloke obsessed with organizing a youth boxing league as a way of vicariously restarting his own sad life. He recruits a handful of would-be hooligans and thugs for his endeavor, then sets about teaching them restraint and respect. Meadows' eye for composition and compassion is acute for someone of his age and experience, and the cast is made up of refreshing unknown, many of whom are friends of Meadows. Hoskins, playing a part written with him in mind, is a marvel, a complex man whose sense of hope is always at odds with life around him. The film's title comes from a description of England's public housing, a place where there's not much to do but hang out and look for trouble—or wait for trouble to find you—at all times. Though TwentyFourSeven doesn't offer anything new, the film is a moving exploration of a few directionless lives.