The Fruit Machine

The bluntly titled The Fruit Machine stars Emile Charles and Tony Forsyth as a pair of homosexual Liverpool teenagers. Though their sexual orientation may be the same, Charles and Forsyth hold diametrically opposed outlooks on life. Gradually, a romance develops between the two — but before things progress much farther, the film suddenly switches emotional gears. Witnessing a gangland execution, Charles and Forsyth are forced to defend their lives against an onslaught of villains. The Fruit Machine seems unsure of what sort of movie it would like to be, though many of its individual components are handled with utmost confidence by director Philip Saville. The film was originally titled Wonderland.