THIS British comedy/drama comes wearing a likeable outfit of drama, humour, bathos and pathos.

Bill Nighy plays Alan, a bespoke Liverpool tailor with a passion for Scrabble, a somewhat dysfunctional family, and an obsession with finding Michael, the son of whom nothing has been heard for years since he stormed out of the house following an argument arising from a Scrabble game. Much of the film’s content deals with Alan’s conflict with his younger son Peter (Sam Riley) who may be present but is unreachable emotionally.

It’s a gentle film, crammed with philological references and wisdoms, amusing rather than hilarious. Nighy again demonstrates his virtuosity as a character actor, looking distinguished and gently dominating a plot based on a short story “Triple Word Score” by Frank Cottrell Boyce who went on to convert it into a screenplay for Carl Hunter to direct with a deft eye for amusing little touches such as Dymo tags created to give simple information about objects that by themselves state the bleeding obvious.

Wondering about the title? Apparently it’s a saying in the bespoke tailoring profession. Gent’s made-to-measure, single-breasted suit jacket. Three buttons. Top one sometimes done up. Middle one always done up. Bottom one – go figure it out.

At Palace Electric, Dendy and Capitol 6