The Navigators

R

2001

1h 36m

Drama

List

90%

Tomatometer

10 Reviews

83%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

After British Rail is privatized, five co-workers struggle to survive during the transition period. Managing director Mr. Hemmings (Nigel Harrison) instructs the employees on the finer points of customer service, but the new company has seemingly contradictory goals. Len (Andy Swallow) takes a job with an agency with better pay but less security, and soon colleagues Paul (Joe Duttine) and John (Dean Andrews) follow suit. Eventually the whole staff faces layoffs and an uncertain future.

Read More

Read Less

Empire Magazine

Rated: 3/5

Dec 30, 2006

Full Review

Wesley Morris

Boston Globe

Loach has a way of capturing the offhand, unspectacular way people live, with social comedy but minus any sociology.

Rated: 3.5/4

Feb 24, 2003

Full Review

James Berardinelli

ReelViews

This is a worthwhile motion picture whose central topic will resonate with many who see it.

Rated: 3/4

Feb 20, 2003

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

Loach's ruses to compose a social treaty on the labor and social condition of these workers lacks dramatic force and the humor with which it's tried to appease the supposed moments of intensity is tiresome. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 5/10

Jul 23, 2020

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Though not one of Loach's strongest films, his heart is in the rightplace, and his foray into the privatization of the British Railway System and its devstating effects on its workers is still a worthy cause to champion and a worthy film to see.

Rated: B-

Sep 11, 2006

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Essential Loach viewing for those who still believe in the cause.

Rated: B+

Feb 14, 2004

Full Review

Read all reviews

Audience Member

I am reviewing this having not done so before, mainly because l saw Sorry we missed you last night and the site won't let me review. The Navigators is one of my favourite Ken Loach films mainly because of its brilliantly accurate portrayal of British working class men. No one in this film looks or sounds remotely like a film star. They are not people l have met but from my own experience they are the kind of people who exist. In less skilled hands, social realism can miss the nuances of everyday means of coping, notably the black humour and stoicism. I also like the film because it feels more human and less didactic than some of his other films. It is not a film "against" privatisation but a human drama concerning people who are all too rarely portrayed. Ken Loach is an old man now but it is impossible to see anyone replacing him. Perhaps that is why he still makes movies.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Text book comedy and tragedy from Ken Loach as he tackles the issue of the privatisation of British Rail. Tory cunts.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Very real, very bleak British drama.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Remarkable working class heroes drama with adequate doses of humor.The bitter side of privatize

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Movie in the good social tradition of Ken Loach which brings us to the dismantling of the public UK railway system through the decline in the living standard of the workers for the enriching of the owners of the new private companies in the name of the nonsensical liberal capitalism.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

another winner from director ken loach not one of strongest films but worth a watch

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Ken Loach

Director

Dean Andrews

John

Tom Craig

Mick

Joe Duttine

Paul

Steve Huison

Jim

Venn Tracey

Gerry

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

89%

86%

My Name Is Joe

63%

76%

Captain Pantoja and the Special Service

97%

88%

Sweet Sixteen

67%

78%

Bread and Roses

30%

52%

Rogue Trader

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

After British Rail is privatized, five co-workers struggle to survive during the transition period. Managing director Mr. Hemmings (Nigel Harrison) instructs the employees on the finer points of customer service, but the new company has seemingly contradictory goals. Len (Andy Swallow) takes a job with an agency with better pay but less security, and soon colleagues Paul (Joe Duttine) and John (Dean Andrews) follow suit. Eventually the whole staff faces layoffs and an uncertain future.

Director: Ken Loach
Screenwriter: Rob Dawber
Production Co: Tornasol Films S.A.
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.9K
Runtime: 1h 36m
Sound Mix: Surround