Rita, Sue and Bob Too

Rita, Sue and Bob Too
Directed by	Alan Clarke
Produced by	Oscar Lewenstein Sanford Lieberson
Written by	Andrea Dunbar
Starring	Michelle Holmes Siobhan Finneran George Costigan Lesley Sharp Kulvinder Ghir
Distributed by	Channel 4
Release date(s)	1986
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Rita, Sue and Bob Too is a 1986 British film directed by Alan Clarke about two West Yorkshire teenaged schoolgirls who have a sexual fling with a married man. It was adapted by Andrea Dunbar, based on two of her stage plays; Rita Sue and Bob Too (1982) and The Arbor (1980). Its portrayal of 'ordinary' people's lives made it a cult film soon after its cinematic release.

Plot

The film opens with Sue's father (Willie Ross) walking drunkenly back from an all nighter at the local pub. Sue goes to fetch Rita from home so they can go and babysit for the more better off couple Bob and Michelle (Lesley Sharp) who live in a more desirable part of the city. When the couple return later Michelle pays both Rita and Sue their money and tells Bob to give them a lift back home. Bob however plans to coax then up to the moors to have sex with them both which he does successfully and plans to make it a regular thing. By the time they're finished it's 2am and Sue sneaks in on the hope everyone's in bed but her father sits with a baseball bat waiting for her threatening to "Wrap it round your fucking neck". An argument ensues between Sue, Sue's father and mother. The next morning Sue asks for cookery money to which her parents furiously refuse explaining they're in hard times and she should tell the teacher to give her the money. Sue angrily storms off telling her dad to "Fuck it"! Sue gets a job at a local taxi firm which one of the drivers Pakistani lad Aslam (Kulvinder Ghir) and another driver make a bet on who can get her into bed first. Sue tells him where to go and he walks off disappointed. Rita and Sue have a P.E lesson in which Bob turns up to take them for a 'Jump.' Rita manages to get permission from the P.E teacher to use the toilet and go to Bob but Sue however is refused and told to get back to session. She furiously takes her anger out on another student who has clearly been drinking and keeps missing the tennis ball. Meanwhile Bob takes Rita to a family friend's house he's looking after whilst they are holidaying in Spain and they have sex again. Later on whilst Michelle's ironing Bob's trousers she finds a packet of condoms in his pocket and confronts them to which he states he and his mate were blowing them up in the pub for entertainment but Michelle refuses to believe him causing them to argue and it is revealed Michelle is frigid and reluctant to participate in any sexual activities. Michelle then goes upstairs to get ready for a night out. Rita and Sue turn up to babysit and Bob warns them that Michelle will ask them questions and try to catch them out but they successfully talk Michelle out of thinking it could be them. It is also revealed in this scene that Bob had an affair before when Michelle explains that she found his mistress's bracelet in their bed. It also turns out that she was their previous babysitter. Later on when Bob and Michelle return from their night out they start arguing again only this time in front of Rita and Sue who desperately try not to laugh at them. Michelle takes her anger out on them telling them to stop laughing at her. She then storms off to bed and Rita and Sue angrily storm home as Bob didn't take them for a jump. Michelle decides to let Bob have sex with her to stop him going off with other women but the results aren't very good. The next day on a school trip, Sue gets into a fight with a classmate who calls her a slag and Sue ends up slapping her across the face in front of everyone. Later Rita and Sue bunk off school to go and meet Bob but Bob can't get an erection which leaves him embarrassed and Rita and Sue unsatisfied. He takes them out to a club in which they and the other people at the club perform the "Gang Bang" song. After the song Michelle's best friend spots Bob with both Rita and Sue and sarcastically asks him if he's having a good time. Bob almost dies explaining to a panic-stricken Rita and Sue that she has a big mouth and will tell Michelle. The next morning Mavis tells Michelle and she angrily goes to Rita's house and drags her into Mavis's car and they then go over to Sue's flat to confront her which Bob races her there. Sue's parents, Bob & Michelle, Rita & Sue and a loopy old man on a balcony have a big argument in front of all the neighbors. When Sue tells Michelle that she should have had sex with him Michelle goes home, trashes the house takes most of the contents of it and takes off in a taxi with her children to an unknown destination. This is Michelle's last appearance in the movie. The next day Sue goes to Rita's house to walk to school with her which she explains that she is no longer going to school as Bob has asked her to move in with him and that she is pregnant. This leaves Sue rather upset and tells them both to get lost when Bob comes to collect Rita. To take her mind off things, Sue dates Aslam (from the taxi firm). They go to the cinema and then to the moors where they start kissing. They then go to Sue's flat where Aslam meets Sue's parents. Her father comes home from the pub drunk and when Aslam joins in a conversation her father shouts racist comments at him and they leave. Sue goes to see Rita in hospital after she loses the baby and when Bob and Sue leave Bob once again tries to get Sue to go to the Moors to have sex. Sue tells him no and that she's staying faithful to Aslam. Aslam however, sees Bob dropping Sue off at his house (where Sue now lives) and he attacks Sue thinking that she's been having sex with Bob. Later at Bob's house, he and Rita are about to have sex when Bob says Sue's name leaving Rita to run out to confront Sue. When she gets there however, Aslam yet again attacks Sue and Rita kicks him in the knees and Sue then kicks him between the legs causing him to buckle down on his knees whilst Rita and Sue escape him. They go back to Bob's house where Rita tends to Sue's wound and Aslam turns up at the front door. They refuse to let him in and whilst talking to Sue he circles the house searching for a way in. He almost gets in by the bay doors until Rita runs and locks them. He tries blackmail saying if Sue doesn't go back with him he'll take some tablets and kill himself. He then starts holding his stomach and moaning pretending to be in serious pain. His plan almost works and Sue starts to look sympathetic until sirens can be heard approaching the house (a concerned neighbor had called the police) causing Aslam to run off down the street. Sue calls him a Bastard and he isn't seen again. Bob returns home and Rita explains that Sue is moving in with them. They go upstairs and Bob goes to get a bath. When he goes into the bedroom he sees that both of them are almost naked in bed and he dives onto the bed pulling his underwear down. The credits then fade from that scene.

Cast

• Siobhan Finneran as Rita
• Michelle Holmes as Sue
• George Costigan as Bob
• Lesley Sharp as Michelle
• Kulvinder Ghir as Aslam
• Willie Ross as Sue's Father
• Danny O'Dea as Paddy
• Maureen Long as Rita's Mother
• Patti Nichols as Sue's Mother

Filming locations

• Buttershaw – The Boulevard council estate - (Rita's house; Sue's flat).
• Baildon – (Bob & Michelle's house on Bramham Drive; moorland scenes).
• Haworth – (the school trip).
• Shipley – (the scene where the girls finish babysitting and are walking home past the garage)
• Bradford – Alexandra St, just behind Rand Street (Great Horton, near the University) the house Sue moves to with Aslam. Luna Cabs (Leeds Road) where she works and meets him.

External links

• Rita, Sue and Bob Too at the Internet Movie Database
• Rita, Sue and Bob Too at AllRovi
• Rita, Sue and Bob Too at Rotten Tomatoes
• British Film Institute Screen Online