imatosser182 My intention was not to review this atrocious exercise in abysmality but the pathetic fake reviews have once again compelled me to even up the score.An interracial family that seemingly all hate each other head out for a countryside road trip. Presumably their destination involves family counselling because no one in this vehicle likes anyone else, every combination possible is at war, meaning their arduous journey is punctuated only by constant complaining and petty squabbling.As tempers fray and fatigue kicks in, their vehicle is overtaken by a loutish group of rogues who gesture provocatively and slow their vehicle down when the lead has been stolen. The father reacts the only way you would react with two small children in the back, by shouting, swearing, and attempting to overtake the offending vehicle again. By the time he has been convinced to put his thinking cap on, their car collides and they awaken to find themselves at the mercy of said rogues. You might as well ignore the following 40-50 minutes of the film because it never happened and is entirely pointless. Characters that don't exist futilely interact with each other. Unlike in some of the hundreds of other films that this has ripped off, the dream sequence or whatever its supposed to be, means absolutely nothing and has no bearing on anything. Incredulously this has been described as an 'original twist' by some users, and some even claim that it enhanced the end product. If "Dead End/Cold Shoulder" was only as long as the events in the film, a semi interesting short story would remain that might be worth an extra mark. An appalling waste of time, money, bandwidth and anything else that was expended on it

rrcharpe I found the three top reviews of this dog of a movie, that also goes by the name Dead End (which for some reason IMDb does not show when it lists this movie by the title of Hard Shoulder), to be extremely out of focus as to the true nature of this poor quality movie. For one thing, it shows a family (blended racially in this modern world of ours) that is poorly acclimated to each other but doesn't really explore into any depth the reasons for this. Secondly it basically takes a dream sequence and uses that as over half the film and then drops a bomb (stink bomb type) on you at the end that supposedly explains everything but basically leaves you hanging. It was poorly acted, poorly directed and made no sense whatsoever so my truthful suggestion is "skip this stinking turkey!" unless your hungry for some Thanksgiving dinner. StocktonRob

Ian M Smith It is my pleasure to recommend this very dark, chilling, psychological thriller with a difference. I was very fortunate to be invited to a private screening of 'Hard Shoulder' by a good friend. The film starts off with a bang and then slowly lulls you into a false sense of reality before taking you by the scruff of the neck and dragging you and it's fine cast into a chilling and very scary scenario. There are fine performances from all the actors on screen with 'Jamie Foreman' etching himself into your memory and for those who have fond memories of 'Jill Greenacre' from 'The Brittas Empire', this is a defining role in her career. A film of substance with a story line which will play on my mind for quite some time I think. I am looking forward and expect to see much more from this very talented director 'Nicholas David Lean'. The film I believe is not yet on general release. The sooner it gets out there and is seen the better.

Alex Legg I had the pleasure of attending a private screening of Hard Shoulder through a friend.I wasn't sure what to expect from the director Nicholas David Lean's film debut, but I was very glad I got to watch it.When the Hard Shoulder starts out you're not sure what to expect, another film about an unhappy family? No. This is after all a psychological thriller. After setting the scene of a unhappy family trying to hold things together, the film gradually builds up the tension and takes a very dark, disturbing and violent turn. Then just when you think you have a grasp of what's going on there is a brilliantly unexpected twist.There is some great acting turns in the film from the likes of Lucy Drive, and Jamie Foreman. Jamie now better known as Derek Branning from Eastenders.I'm not sure when this film is out on general release, but if you get the chance, go see it!