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The Navigators

Play trailer Poster for The Navigators R 2001 1h 36m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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90% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter 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.

Critics Reviews

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Wesley Morris Boston Globe 02/24/2003
3.5/4
Loach has a way of capturing the offhand, unspectacular way people live, with social comedy but minus any sociology. Go to Full Review Yasser Medina Cinefilia 07/23/2020
5/10
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] Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 09/11/2006
B-
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. Go to Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 02/14/2004
B+
Essential Loach viewing for those who still believe in the cause. Go to Full Review Maria Garcia Film Journal International 02/22/2003
Simply the final word on the evils of private industry. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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11/13/2019 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. See more 11/03/2016 Text book comedy and tragedy from Ken Loach as he tackles the issue of the privatisation of British Rail. Tory cunts. See more 11/23/2015 Very real, very bleak British drama. See more 06/24/2015 Remarkable working class heroes drama with adequate doses of humor.The bitter side of privatize See more 09/30/2014 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. See more 12/19/2013 another winner from director ken loach not one of strongest films but worth a watch See more Read all reviews
The Navigators

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Cast & Crew

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Ken Loach

Director

Dean Andrews

John

Tom Craig

Mick

Joe Duttine

Paul

Steve Huison

Jim

Venn Tracey

Gerry

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The Navigators

The Navigators (2001) The Navigators (2001) The Navigators (2001) View more photos

Movie Info

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
Producer
Rebecca O'Brien
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