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Film Description

King Lear comes to gangland Liverpool. The story of a man who rules supreme and is convinced he is untouchable - until his wife is shot dead. Believing the bullet was meant for him he is determined to find the killer even though he has to involve his three corrupt and power-hungry daughters. Strong performances throughout.

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DVD Extras

Behind the scenes; Film tests; Deleted scenes; Film notes and trailers.

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Review by Ezekiel Lee on 5th May 2006

This is a loose re-telling of Shakespeare's King Lear set in contemporary Liverpool gangland where an old and jaded gangster divides his criminal empire among his children after an accident only to be shunned by them and driven out to the streets.

The problem with this film is simply that it tries too hard. Having the opening scene of singing choirboys in a church demand an epic of a movie but the under-written characters just disappoint. The flow is uneasy and I had trouble making out what the two daughters are saying most of the time beneath their Scouse accents. In fact, the whole cast mumbles throughout the movie. I read on IMDB that the film has an audio defect. Worse, what they say probably isn't that important anyway because all the actors don't make any lasting impression. This is a real shame because I really liked the setting and texture of the film -it was very realistic and necessarily bleak. Even the weather added an accurate feel to the movie. Sadly, the only way this movie could've succeeded is if it was a four-part miniseries.

Richard Harris may have done alright here (God rest his soul) but his hissing voice just reminds me too much of Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) in The Godfather and the mimicry suggests too much ambitious copy-cat undertones. His character does not inspire me at all and I cannot see the gangster in him -only the poor old man. The rest are mostly forgettable actors but the young boy and the third daughter wasn't too bad. One rather memorable scene worth mentioning was when the Punjabi gangster heir (Aidan Gillen) was questioned on why he was removing his turban, and he calmly said "Yes it is very sinful for a Sikh indeed. So perhaps you'd appreciate the symbolicism of the act..." and proceeded to perform some mental gangster act on the man. The highlight of the film was definitely this -but sadly, only this.

In sum, the movie is inconsistent and hurried -at every point you feel as if the film wants to be classier than it can ever be. I thinkthe oxy
moron we're looking for is "superficial depth". Considering this, it is only negligible that the DVD has many special features, including but not limited to, deleted scenes, director's commentary, trailer reel, film notes and a behind-the-scenes featurette.

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Review by Barry Forshaw on 11th July 2003

Richard Harris’ final leading role is, thankfully, one of his most powerful performances. Crime boss Sandeman is both a family man and a top criminal in Liverpool. When his wife is murdered, he plans to hand his business over to his three daughters (yes, this is a gangster riff on King Lear). As in The Bard, sibling enmity creates gang warfare and, finally, grim tragedy. Strong playing, not just from Harris, but also Jimi Mistry and Louise Lombard.

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