Really Surprised!

Pretty Good

A Masterpiece!

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Very average British gangster film. Concept good executed so so. Not a bad watch, not the best.

Can't believe I've just wasted 1hr 36mins of my life watching this! No real/credible plot, awful acting... Never really liked Steven Berkoff and now I know why! Best thing about the film is the lovely Freema Agyeman IMO. The plot is based on two lovers from opposing sides wanting to escape the world they live in... However, you'd never have guessed if you hadn't read the plot summary! Don't waste your time on this and wondering... "Surley it can't be that bad".... Well yes ladies and gentlemen "It is" and if I could score this as a minus I would!

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning For decades, rivalries between the criminal gangs from the North and South of England have been kept under wraps by means of open talks and civility. But crazed Londoner Gary (Brad Moore) has just killed Northerner Alf (Steve Evets) over a disagreement over a drug deal, which tears the whole truce apart. Meanwhile, young pretender Terry (Elliott Tittensor) has fallen in love with Willow (Charlotte Hope), the daughter of London crime lord Vic (Steven Berkoff), which further inflames matters. With Gary running around trying play both sides off against each other for his own personal gain, it sets the ball in motion for a devastating and bloody turf war.This latest addition in what is hardly an unfamiliar plethora of cheap and easy British gangster flicks was lucky enough to enjoy a little run at the cinema, but that's probably the only thing that serves as a distinction between it and the countless other films of its type out there. There's a pretty even split between those set in the North and South, and so its an interesting idea to pitch what would happen if the two were to collide, but sadly this formulaic, by the numbers effort, with ideas above its station, doesn't make the most of it.A host of familiar faces to the genre are splashed on display, with veteran Berkoff as the Southern boss doing his usual over emotive, raging villain act, while other established performers such as Tom Bell and even Keith Allen also make their presence felt. But the script sadly cannot match their veracity, coming off very Goodfellas lite, with young star/narrator Tittensor providing voice overs explaining how things are working and what his role in it all is. Too many characters and plot lines are thrown in all at once, and they all prove too inconsistent to care about.The obviously low budget would be easier to overlook if all the other faults weren't so apparent, but as it is, it's cheap and cheerless. *

Attempts from two rival gangs/firms/units whatever you want to call them from the South and the North to reach a truce go awry, when one of the Norths best friends gets their throat cut by someone in the South.Throw in a really wobbly Romeo and Juliet subplot, and you have this weeks big British Crime Thriller. Guy Ritchie still has a lot to answer for eighteen years after Lock Stock..... brought new life to the below par film makers who want to make it to the big time.Sounds like a film all in its self.So what you get is a plethora of familiar faces, some that you'd expect to be in this type of film, and others that make the mind boggle. And it does exactly what you'd expect a straight to DVD gangster flick to do.The old boys are coming to some sort of an understanding, but as soon as you can say 'weren't you two quite big in Hollywood once?' , the young members of the unit did to ruin it by being either a) a bit mouthy, and to quick with a blade, or b) having an affair with a relative from the other unit, which is where the Romeo and Juliet element comes in to it.Now this element of the film makes the film just laughable in places, and it's biggest mistake, making hard work of what should a have been a plain and simple whodunnit thriller, with a few offbeat characters.But the makers must have thought 'well that's the same plot as every other gangster film that has been made in the last ten years'. That may be so, but when you have a cast that are so 'familiar' to the genre, your on a win win basis, so don't try to be clever and left field.These films are meant to be escapism, to see people get tasty with one another, dropping C-bombs like they are going out of fashion and waving guns like the Union Jack at The Last Night Of The Proms.But it's not the worst film I've seen in this genre, and if your a fan of Berkoff chewing scenery like Godzilla, there is something here for you.Next time, try not to be too clever......but do try to get Danny Dyer a cameo, he needs something after the Dyer year he's had with movies.........