Often when we hear an old cliché early in a film, we think "boring." Here, when the words "opportunity of a lifetime" or "making a new start" are spoken, after a string of four letter words mixed in with the term "gear," meaning dope or smack, there is no doubt what the expression "you can’t see the forest for the trees" means. Liam (Martin Compston) is a fifteen-year-old in a working class Scottish town, who hustles cigarettes (fags) on the street and in local pubs, with his good friend Pinball (William Ruane). Liam and Pinball are good kids who see only two forks in the road, both leading to a troubled future.

While the film’s title, "Sweet Sixteen," evokes thoughts of the

vagaries of getting your driver’s license or losing your virginity, this rite of passage is difficult indeed.

There are opportunities for Liam to have a sexual liaison with Suzanne (Michelle Abercromby), but he is more interested in what to do about his grandfather and Stan (Gary McCormack), his mother Jean’s (Michelle Coulter) boyfriend. Stan and grandpa are taking Liam to visit Mum (Jean) in jail, so he can slip some dope to her to sell as they create a diversion while he gives her a lingering hug.

Liam later decides to steal some gear from Stan, a middling level drug peddler, and to create his own diversion so he’s not suspected. Using his entrepreneurial skills, Liam does such a nice job of moving the goods via a pizza delivery ruse, that he comes to the attention of Douglas (Jon Morrison), a big-time drug dealer. Douglas is connected enough to have his assistant drive a Range Rover, and he launders his money through an upscale health club, where the women who want to see and be seen spend their leisure time.

Liam’s goal is to give his Mum a new start when she gets out of jail, and Douglas is the ticket to lots of money and a nice apartment overlooking the bay. Unlike many films with unrealistic and over written scripts to create conflict, "Sweet Sixteen" provides a reality that is grittier than 8 Mile. In many ways this is a much darker film in attitude and tone, even though most of it was shot during daylight, in a somewhat cheery atmosphere.

Pinball is a goof off and when insulted by Douglas’s henchmen, he

takes out a vendetta on them, which Douglas is asked to resolve on a one-to-one basis. Liam is also tested, as his gang initiation process is to stab someone to death.

Jean is a woman addicted to abuse and being a loser. It seems the only person who has the focus and street smarts to figure out how to break out of the ghetto is Liam’s sister Chantelle (Annmarie Fulton). She understands the truth, unvarnished and without sentimentality. Neither parent wanted her or Liam. One of her goals is to complete a job-training program. Even though she is a single mother with a young child, she is moving in the right direction.

By the time the sun rises on Liam’s 16^th birthday, his path in life has provided many interesting and devastating experiences. He had a great party, even though he later realizes there was not very much to celebrate. Is he able to redeem himself and has he learned the lessons to look back one day and see how close he came to living a disastrous life? Or will he too end up on the wrong side of the prison bars?

For today’s rebellious teenager, this film could mean nothing or it could help them look into the mirror and change before it’s too late. The movie may end in a certain state of "limbo," but that’s no way to turn sixteen in real life.