As I am generally quite easily pleased even by the most average of films, it takes a disaster of epic proportions to motivate me to comment on their faults at length. Here is an example.
Being a fan of British cinema in general, I have found myself entertained by the glut of British gangster movies released in the late Nineties/ early noughties so I have to admit I was looking forward to a fun 90 minute distraction when I came across Gangster No. 1
What we have here appears on the surface to be The Talented Mr Ripley meets The Krays, where by a cocky young crook stalks (for want of a better word) his classy mobster boss, destroys his relationship and generally tries to take over his life by using shall we say, less than ethical tactics. We flashback to London in the swinging sixties where we meet the unnamed Gangster 55, played in his youth by Bettany who displays rare but outstanding moments of cold detachment that stand above and beyond anything else in this film. Forward to 1999 and we meet the contemporary 55, who is now for some reason played by Malcolm McDowell giving a performance so poor and boring that his co stars seem visibly embarrassed. McGuigan over-directs to the point that he appears to be confusing himself, one scene portrays a brutal assault played out to lighthearted background music a la Resovoir Dogs displaying none of the panache and power of Tarantino's masterpiece. Even the novelty factor of seeing the scene from the victims POV appears tacked on when compared to the subsequent Cafe battering dished out in L4yer Cake which emulated it.
A criminally underused Saffron Burrows joins what appears to be an excellent supporting cast, but even the core blimey guvnor genius of Kenneth Cranham and Jamie Forman cannot inject any life into what has to be one of the most lacklustre scripts of recent years:
"You alright?" "Yeah." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "Yeah?"
Utter rubbish
Being a fan of British cinema in general, I have found myself entertained by the glut of British gangster movies released in the late Nineties/ early noughties so I have to admit I was looking forward to a fun 90 minute distraction when I came across Gangster No. 1
What we have here appears on the surface to be The Talented Mr Ripley meets The Krays, where by a cocky young crook stalks (for want of a better word) his classy mobster boss, destroys his relationship and generally tries to take over his life by using shall we say, less than ethical tactics. We flashback to London in the swinging sixties where we meet the unnamed Gangster 55, played in his youth by Bettany who displays rare but outstanding moments of cold detachment that stand above and beyond anything else in this film. Forward to 1999 and we meet the contemporary 55, who is now for some reason played by Malcolm McDowell giving a performance so poor and boring that his co stars seem visibly embarrassed. McGuigan over-directs to the point that he appears to be confusing himself, one scene portrays a brutal assault played out to lighthearted background music a la Resovoir Dogs displaying none of the panache and power of Tarantino's masterpiece. Even the novelty factor of seeing the scene from the victims POV appears tacked on when compared to the subsequent Cafe battering dished out in L4yer Cake which emulated it.
A criminally underused Saffron Burrows joins what appears to be an excellent supporting cast, but even the core blimey guvnor genius of Kenneth Cranham and Jamie Forman cannot inject any life into what has to be one of the most lacklustre scripts of recent years:
"You alright?" "Yeah." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "Yeah?"
Utter rubbish