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Film Description
Tough, grimy London gangster film with Carlyle heading up a strong cast as an ex-socialist who's so fed up at the demise of his political beliefs that he turns to crime.
Why was this film not able to elevate itself to the standards of "The Krays", "Snatch", "Get Carter", "Lot Stock", "Gangster No.1" and "Sexy Beast"? With an embarrassm... more >
Why was this film not able to elevate itself to the standards of "The Krays", "Snatch", "Get Carter", "Lot Stock", "Gangster No.1" and "Sexy Beast"? With an embarrassment of stars in the cast, I found it woeful that Robert Carlyle was picked to lead the pack. Perhaps it's been too many times I watched him mouthing obscenities in Northern and Irish accents (Angela's Ashes, 51st State, Full Monty, There's Only One Jimmy Grimble) but his character is thoroughly unconvincing to me and it should have gone to his co-star instead, the indomitable Ray Winstone.
This made-for-TV BBC FOUR production is about an ageing ex-socialist who commits armed robberies around London for a living. After one particular heist, many things go wrong and his motley crew of criminal hands begin to question each other on just who is behind the missing money and the dead bodies. A moral dilemma surfaces when his girlfriend (played by the beautiful Lena Headey) gets tired of his thieving ways and he starts to comtemplate giving it all up while still chasing the missing money.
No disrespect to the man but Carlyle, as brilliant an actor as he is, can only play gangsters with a heart. Winstone on the other hand can play the gangster with a heart AND a gun. The choice to humanise Carlyle's character was too cheesy and the same goes for the romantic scenes where the music score really took a lot of bite out of the film. The story has a decent plot but it could have done a whole lot more, for example, examining the socialist past of the lead, the relationship with his girlfriend or the mentalities of the other gangsters in reference to what motivated them to do what they did. Not much is mentioned either about his stumbling, live-in protege Stevie nor why he came to be where he is.
In sum, the texture of this film was correct (bleak and shot mostly at night) but it lacked the story-telling edge which would have made it a much better film. None of the characters had much depth to them and end up being very forgettable, even Ray Winstone's. There are minor starring roles for Christine Tremarco (see my review for "Hold Back The Night") and also Damon Albarn but even his appearance was not enough to really make this movie shine. It simply wasn't stylish enough, it wasn't powerful enough and it wasn't memorable enough.
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Ray leads his gang of criminals on a big job that will set them up for life. The take is considerably less than hoped for and we watch the greed, paranoia and loyaltie... more >
Ray leads his gang of criminals on a big job that will set them up for life. The take is considerably less than hoped for and we watch the greed, paranoia and loyalties tear the gang apart. A British Reservoir Dogs. < less
