The Moo Man

Andy Heathcote’s doc-moo-mentary (© The OC Film Sting) follows farmer Steve Hook and his production of raw, unpasteurised organic milk from his dairy farm in Sussex. From the title though you can guess that this is more about the Friesian’s that produce said product and if you’re an animal lover you’ll find this predictably moving. Shot over four years we follow Hook’s relationship with his herd and the film captures a way of life and living that is fast disappearing in England. Despite the tough undercurrent there is plenty here to warm the heart, including stubborn cow Ira refusing to do what she’s told half the time and Stephen Daltry’s silly score is a nice touch. Overall though Heathcote seems uncertain as to what the tone should be and in some scenes it slips into unintentional black comedy territory (especially in a scene where Hook is talking about one of his favourites….whilst handing over chopped up pieces of said animal to a customer). All in all though it’s fantastic to see a film such as this get into the cinemas (the head honcho at Sundance picked it as his festival favourite). A wider analysis of the milk producing sector would have helped, but for a small budget film such as this it covers a range of emotions and ideas that films with one hundred times the resources don’t even get near. Rating: 7/10.