2016 British biographical film based on james bowen's novel of the same name, directed by Roger Spotwood, starring Luke Tridway, Ruta Gadmintas, and Joann Flogat.
In the early years, his parents divorced, the family rupture caused James to suffer a huge mental blow, began to give up on himself, he became addicted to drug addiction to escape life, became an addict, his father reorganized the family disappointed in him and did not want to let him enter the house again, passers-by are even more avoidant of drug addicts. James lives on the streets with a guitar on his back to sell singing, and although survival is difficult, fortunately he has begun to slowly quit drugs.
Because drug addiction is difficult to quit, society regards people like them as moth garbage, relying on the change given by street singers or unable to eat enough, going to restaurants to ask for ninepence to sing or be thrown out of the door, poor people must have something to hate, for him, society is cruel and unsympathetic.
Rummaging through the garbage heap for food scraps, heavy rain and tuotu nights, the weather is very cold, there is no place to live, and there is no place to sleep, the former drug addict friend found a car on the side of the road that forgot to lock the door, invited James to come in for the night, and of course shared his drugs of unknown origin. The next day the owner of the car arrived, James was unconscious, the friend ran away, leaving James to be taken to the hospital by the owner.
James wakes up to see his drug rehab doctor, Val, full of guilt, Val is disappointed and says that he doesn't have to apologize, I don't have any hope for you, you already have hepatitis, and taking heroin during the period of taking methadone is looking for death. James cried and blamed himself, he didn't want to die on drugs, so he approached Val and asked her to give him another chance, Val asked him to come every two weeks for a check-up, then gave him the guitar and asked him to sing a song for himself.
James wants to change from evil, but the pressure of survival and drug addiction are tormenting him, the kind Val sees his persistence and determination, and applies for a welfare apartment for him, James is full of joy and dreams of a place to stay, there is a soft sofa and hot water, he incoherently vows to quit drugs, in order to repay Val's care.
At night, a yellow cat broke into the house to steal food, and James entertained it to signal it to leave, but the cat did not leave, so one person and one cat spent the night together. The next day, James went door to door with the cat to look for the owner and no one responded, he had to put the cat down and let it go home on its own, after all, he couldn't even feed himself now.
When he met his father, who was a stranger, James ran over to express that he wanted to spend Christmas with him, but was sternly rejected by his stepmother, and his father seemed to feel guilty, so he gave James a little money and left in a hurry. Slightly disappointed, James returns home to find the cat at the door with injuries bleeding, and James holds it and asks the neighbor girl for help, and the girl named Betty names the cat Bob and asks James to take it to the pet hospital for treatment as soon as possible because she is allergic to animals.
James carried Bob to the pet hospital to register, and waited until late at night, so that he did not go to Val on time, and he spent all the money his father had just given him because he bought medicine. James asks Betty to help him with Bob's medicine and runs to explain to Val why he didn't come, smiling and saying that he has an animal companion and a girl he likes, and Val reminds James that he can't fall in love until he successfully quits drugs, because the emotional ups and downs are too big to control, and he hides the fact that he uses drugs.
Betty helped sterilize Bob, and when James was on the bus to go to the city to sing and earn money, Bob jumped on the bus and didn't leave James' side, and he could only take Bob and let it stand on his shoulder, and they performed together. Bob's joining made the audience soar, people stopped to watch the photo shoots, made a lot of money, Bob is really a fortune cat.
When the drug addict saw James, he came and asked for some money, and James promised him that he could only buy food and not go to drugs. That night, James bought a can of cat and a bouquet of flowers to give to Betty, and found that the drug addict was lying on the side of the road due to drug overdose, and Betty called an ambulance to rescue the ineffective death, which gave James a great touch.
When she got back, Betty told James a story about herself, that she had a painter brother who had also died in a bathtub because of drug addiction, that she hated addicts, and that she lived here just because she missed her brother. James listened in his heart and was determined to quit drugs, and he expressed his inner thoughts to Val, who advised him to take it one step at a time and not to be too hasty.
James and Betty and Bob spent a pleasant Christmas together, the two exchanged gifts, Betty encouraged James to bring a bottle of champagne to find his father to try to integrate into the family, the father opened the door to see his son a little overwhelmed, invited him to enter the door, the two sisters were influenced by the stepmother to James, the brother was full of malice, one of them was also allergic to cats, Bob made a big fuss about the scene and made a mess of the family, and soon, James was thrown out of the door.
When singing in the street, they were provoked by passers-by with dogs, and the audience was angry with it, but the police came to stop it, and took James back to the police station as the primary suspect for questioning, although the explanation was clear that he was safe, but he was asked not to sell art on the street for half a year. This undoubtedly deprived him of the means to make a living, and when he was frustrated, James went to the pharmacy to take methadone and was bumped into by Betty, who ran away disappointed, saying that she did not accept addicts and did not experience important people leaving away.
James's mood fell to the bottom, in order to survive, he went to the newspaper to find a job to sell magazines on the street, because of Bob's help, it was still as eye-catching, a few days later, the harvest was very rich, but also by the jealousy of his peers, accused him of rushing to live, bad rules, the head of the magazine had to ask James not to sell magazines for a month.
With no source of income again, James decides to take the risk, and he returns to the streets to be stopped by betty, who rushes to the scene, and she does not want her loved one to be taken away by the police again.
Finally survived a month, James can continue to sell the magazine, a mother and son said that they want to buy Bob for a better life, James explicitly refused. In the course of the quarrel, Bob was frightened by the passerby's dog and disappeared, James struggled to blame himself, lost his most important partner and the burden of life, he tried to get close to the drug dealer, but at the last moment he resisted, returned home to see Bob again, and gave him the hope of continuing to try to survive.
The next day, James approached Val and offered to quit methadone, and he wanted to experience normal life and the feeling of being respected by others, and he was willing to suffer for it. Before starting, James goes to explain to Betty that he wants to quit gambling completely, and they are reconciled, and Betty says that she will fully cooperate. Finally, in the company of Bob, James survived the most painful days of his life, and he successfully recovered from drugs and regained his life.
James takes Bob to say hello to Betty, only to find her moving away. He came to apologize to his father and said that he did not blame him for abandoning himself in the first place, and his father accepted James and bravely shouted at his son.
The publisher found James, was very interested in him and Bob, wanted to combine his experience to produce a book, and then the book sold well, at the press conference, James expressed his gratitude to many people who had helped him, because they and Bob, he returned to normal life, with goals and hopes.