Load of rubbish!!

Best movie ever!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

London Boulevard is written and directed by William Monahan. It stars Colin Farrell, David Thewlis, Ray Winstone, Ben Chaplin, Keira Knightley and Anna Friel. Music is by Sergio Pizzorno and cinematography by Chris Menges.After serving his stretch for GBH, Harry Mitchel (Farrell) returns to his manor and finds gangland boss Rob Gant (Winstone) wants him as one of his charges.Written and directed by the man who co-wrote The Departed, it's not hard to guess what sort of tone London Boulevard is set at. Which for anyone who follows neo-noir will find plenty to like here, not least the stylish and tonally compliant photography of Menges.However, falling under the neo-noir banner becomes a curse in a way because there are far greater films of this ilk to liken it too. Pic at least does have the courage to not cop out in resolutions, but again there is no surprise factor for the genre faithfuls.The narrative often meanders, shoehorning in Knightley's (underused) harassed actress as a love interest in the process, and London accents are choppy. It also is criminal to have Stephen Graham and Eddie Marsan in your movie and barely give them screen time!On the plus side of things, the violence and dialogue is often taut and tart respectively, backed by a scorching rocky hipster soundtrack. Farrell is good value as a tough guy, Winstone does what he does best, menacing of course, while Thewlis steals the film as a wired cool cat with menace surprisingly lurking in is heart.As a whole it fails to hit all the right spots, but enough in here for neo-noir fans to feed on as an appetiser to a more fulfilling noir meal. 6/10

Take any Tarantino/Ritchie gangsters movie, Carlito's way, Sexy Beast, some fragrance ads, shake well and the result is London Boulevard.Farrell is Mitchel, a gangster released from prison who wants to stay "clean" - major cliché - He has a slutty sister (Friel as Briony, the most annoying character in the movie) and a sleazy business associate (Chaplin as Billy, with greasy long hair and speaking with a thick accent).Very randomly Mitchel gets a job as bodyguard for Charlotte, a millionaire movie star, hunted by paparazzi. At this stage it starts to look like two movies randomly stuck together and unfortunately, random is the key word of this plot development. Knightley - as megastar Charlotte - is terrible. Her delivery is stiff and flat and we get the full Knightley package of quivering lips, beady eyes, thick bangs and fashionable rags that barely cover her emaciated frame Knightley's face plastered around London reminded me she is a perfume-salesperson (I mean "testimonial"). When she was on screen, I expected to see the fragrance she advertises among other product placements. At some stage the random plot introduces Winstone, allegedly a big crime lord, sporting elegant clothes, glasses and a beard to fool us into believing he is not Winstone. I could hardly hear a word he said because - I guess - his voice coach suggested that whispering makes a criminal seem more dangerous.None of the characters is sympathetic: Mitchel is as violent as his associates, Charlotte's problem is that she is too rich and famous, Winstone is a brutal thug, Briony is a silly slut, Billy a coward, etc…Sub-plots and characters (the beggar, the policeman, Charlotte's live-in friend, the doctor…) appear and disappear randomly and way too late the movie reaches its plagiarist ending.PS the soundtrack is good though, very Swinging London

This movie turn out to be a surprise for me. I saw very well-known actors in other perspective. Sometimes, the viewer have certain stereotypes connected to actors, and we only see them or only comprises them as character "x" or "y" for many years. We have that printed in our memories. For me, this film cut that bond and show a new deepness of those amazing actors. Collin Farrell, for instance, is becoming more respected and competent. Thanks to characters like that, I can see beyond his spectacular looks. And the loneliness and persecution that Keira Knightly character live, and all the drama involved, made my interest growth. And show that the actor's life is not always about the glamour. Over all, I find this quality modern dilemma movie very entertaining.

Just another British gangster flick? That's what I was afraid of. It starred Colin Farrell, so I thought I would have to at least give it a try. Farrell, like most actors, has a limited range, but when he fits a role, he usually excels, as he does in this flick. Of course he plays the brooding, soulful, powder keg criminal with a heart of gold (whose sister, well acted by some relatively unknown performer, is a mentally disturbed hooker with a heart of stone). Very pleasantly, the storyline, which is punctuated with some pretty rough violence and a killer soundtrack, is quite unpredictable (at least, I thought so). Even though I watched it a couple of days ago, I'm still not certain about how I feel about the ending, which will likely leave a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths. Still, I can't say that I saw where the plot was going, or where it was going to end up, which is one of the characteristics I value most in a film experience. Because my mind hasn't made complete peace with the ending, I'm holding back full marks, although I think there are arguably legitimate artistic reasons for how it was all wrapped up.