STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
Jamie (Danny Dyer) is a cold, pitiless assassin who carries out jobs for numerous undesirables around London. His latest clients are the Alberts Brothers (Martin and Gary Kemp) who want him to whack off a local councillor who's duped them over some dodgy planning application. After carrying out the job, he crosses paths with troubled stripper Chloe (Holly Weston) and ends up falling in love with her. However, the identity of his last assignment and his relation to his new squeeze plunges him and those around him into a deadly battle for survival.
Now settled in as a main character on national TV institution East Enders, Danny Dyer still finds time to appear in these occasional, off the radar little flicks, that belong in the much touted British gangster genre. And this would prove to be one of his better ones, a little more coherent and effective than his recent, similarly themed Vendetta. It has a solid, interesting story that goes in different angles than you might expect it to. Plus, Dyer himself is actually pretty good in the lead role, and Martin Kemp especially has presence as one of the main villains. It's a pretty brutal, unflinching ride, too, not afraid to skimp on the brutal violence and hard hitting action.
Short and sweet, it manages to all wrap up at just under an hour and a half, and the pace matches the length. Yes, the lighting's a little blurry and maybe there are a few inconsistencies and plot holes in the script, but no more than in any other such film, and for a film that probably had a pretty low budget, how it's presented is forgivable. Dyer seems to have been the victim of the British 'build 'em up, tear 'em down' mentality among film connoisseurs, when you think there was a time when he was being touted as a the next Ray Winstone, only now to have everyone gloating in his status, appearing in more lesser known, lower grade films, and knocking his acting. He does feel a little typecast, but that's how you tend to get a fan base, and you could get someone far worse making forgettable but enjoyable films like this. ***
Jamie (Danny Dyer) is a cold, pitiless assassin who carries out jobs for numerous undesirables around London. His latest clients are the Alberts Brothers (Martin and Gary Kemp) who want him to whack off a local councillor who's duped them over some dodgy planning application. After carrying out the job, he crosses paths with troubled stripper Chloe (Holly Weston) and ends up falling in love with her. However, the identity of his last assignment and his relation to his new squeeze plunges him and those around him into a deadly battle for survival.
Now settled in as a main character on national TV institution East Enders, Danny Dyer still finds time to appear in these occasional, off the radar little flicks, that belong in the much touted British gangster genre. And this would prove to be one of his better ones, a little more coherent and effective than his recent, similarly themed Vendetta. It has a solid, interesting story that goes in different angles than you might expect it to. Plus, Dyer himself is actually pretty good in the lead role, and Martin Kemp especially has presence as one of the main villains. It's a pretty brutal, unflinching ride, too, not afraid to skimp on the brutal violence and hard hitting action.
Short and sweet, it manages to all wrap up at just under an hour and a half, and the pace matches the length. Yes, the lighting's a little blurry and maybe there are a few inconsistencies and plot holes in the script, but no more than in any other such film, and for a film that probably had a pretty low budget, how it's presented is forgivable. Dyer seems to have been the victim of the British 'build 'em up, tear 'em down' mentality among film connoisseurs, when you think there was a time when he was being touted as a the next Ray Winstone, only now to have everyone gloating in his status, appearing in more lesser known, lower grade films, and knocking his acting. He does feel a little typecast, but that's how you tend to get a fan base, and you could get someone far worse making forgettable but enjoyable films like this. ***