Using mostly unknown and first-time actors, Loach spins a passable coming-of-age tale, which should please his fans and provides a diversion for the rest of us.

Despite this film's title, don't expect something light and fluffy.

From its gripping immediacy to its strong cast of unknowns, Sweet Sixteen feels almost like a documentary. Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty keep an evenhanded focus on harsh truths, and avoid melodrama and grandstanding.

There's a tragic inevitability from the start of Ken Loach's powerful coming-of-age film, which never demonizes its central characters, but instead sees most of them as products of their environment.