Simply A Masterpiece

How sad is this?

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This film will be a painful mirroring of every day life for anyone living in one of London's gun infested boroughs. It portrays the difficulty faced by young black men who lack male authority figures and are brought up in a culture of violence driven kudos and the economic reality of having no education and very little hope. It also shows the pain of a family, caught up in a situation that they don't understand and can't control.It succeeds in painting the truly unglamourous picture of life on an east London housing estate, where to lose face could mean death. Ashley Walters is superb as the fresh out of jail Ricky. He embodies the chaotic nature of a young man, struggling to accept authority, wrestling with his notion of what is right and gaining the respect of his peers. All this in the context of being a young offender, facing a life of menial labour and rejection, by a society that he barely belongs to.The script is very economical and realistic and it has been shot in a hand-held, docudrama style, which lends itself perfectly to the subject matter.I would caution anyone looking for an entertaining movie about London gangsters or punchy one liners. This film does nothing to glamorise gun culture in London. It doesn't dilute it's grimness with humour or irrelevant subplots and it doesn't shy away from showing some of the more appalling aspects of modern gang culture.It has had accusations of stereotypical characters and situations levelled at it, but speaking as somebody who has grown up surrounded by guns and drug crime, I can tell you reliably that these characters exist, as do the situations that occur in the film. It isn't funny, there are no jokes and everyday life really is a struggle for survival. If anything, the filmmakers have made a concession to the viewer and resisted showing the full horror of what can happen to you if you diss somebody publicly. This film has more importance as a historical document than a piece of aesthetic beauty. If you want more posturing and drama you might prefer 'Kidulthood' but for the sheer reality factor, you can't go wrong with 'Bullet Boy'.Cutewildstyle, Peckham, London 2008

"Gritty," "real," "uncompromising," "hard-hitting," just some of the buzzwords that I've heard and read in the description of what, ultimately, turns out to be, or at least attempts to be, social commentary on street culture in 21st century London.Whilst the film very much lives up to the aforementioned words (something British titles are always generally very apt in), I can't help but feel like I was cheated out of an actual story and instead presented with an 80 minute advertisement on how bad the pitfalls of the gun. To me, the entire movie was a bit of a waste; devoid of wit, humour and or any form of actual derision, we get taken through a series of one depression invoking scene to another. The melon coli that consumes and drives the film forward only helps to underwhelm one further in what, we already know, is already going to be a pretty morbid outing. A sense, or feeling of hope wouldn't have went a miss either, but with the premise being so linear and uncompromising, these are areas that were either sacrificed or merely completely forsaken, which ultimately proves to be a bit of a shame.The importance of the weapon in question becomes so overwhelming, that I feel it, this inanimate object, has much more dimensions than any one of the films main protagonists: It goes from a reminder of an ex con's past, to a secret that must be kept hush, to a thing of power, intimidation and hegemonic dominance, to a child's play thing and finally to a hot potato, all the while destroying each and every thing in it's path, dividing families, ending relationships and every other inevitable cliché that comes with the arming of the gun; unoriginality personified.Whist I wasn't particularly taken with the premise, or in fact what the film was supposed to be alluding to, I did find solace in the performances of the two primary characters.Ashley Walters, of "So Solid Crew" Fame, gives a noteworthy performance as Ricky, just released from prison and seemingly trying to get his life on the straight and narrow. Whilst totally believable in the role I feel the lack f direction the character was given and the writing put in front of Walters was bitterly disappointing. As the main protagonist I wanted, so dearly, to get behind his character but time after time he drew nothing but scorn from me as he seems far too content to lay stagnant in his own mediocrity and overtly abrasive whenever challenged. Whilst I see this as very much the teenage stereotype it didn't really help to teach me anything I wasn't already aware of, nor did it help to bring anything new to the plate. Plus, the end scene didn't have quite the impact I think the director was attempting to build toward as it was nothing short of inevitable. Rather than do the 180 you hope to see from this type of character we don't even see him undertake a 360 and instead he remains very much still and whilst he does air his objections to the gun at points, he seemingly learns little and develops in a manner that is very frustrating.Luke Frazer, playing Walters' younger brother, Curtis, is equally compelling as the starry eyed, awe-stricken admirer of Walters. Eager to copy his brother at every turn Frazer was both believable and convincing in the way he went about the task. Thanks to the way the story developed and the characters panned out, it was his journey that, ultimately, became the most interesting of the pair, as this impressionable youngster becomes so emblazed in admiration that tragedy almost befalls the boy within the film. It is a testament to Frazer (and the direction of that whole 10-20 minute period) that at a point when my frustration was really starting to take hold, he pulled me back in and, at once, had me round the proverbial gonads, yearning for things to work out for the kid. Understated, but very, very thought evoking.All in all, a film that works because of the performances from the above two parties, as nothing else was particularly stand-out; familiar premise, familiar characters, familiar feel and all-too familiar sense of being preached to rather than being educated.I'd recommend giving it a look and appreciating the performances - and, to it's credit, I can see a lot of people clinging on to the fact that the movie is "real," "cool" and or "exactly like me and my mates" - but not a film I'll be in a hurry to see again anytime soon and I can't help but feel it was an opportunity wasted.

Firstly, I have to say, I didn't like this film. So why then, you might think, have i given it a good rating. It is down solely to the respect i have for it. Never before have i seen a film portray the tough life that is experienced by many in the tough streets of London or anywhere else for that matter, quite so realistically. At no point does it become unnatural or over the top, it always seems to draw you in because of its sense of realism. Like i have said, i did not like this film. Ordinarily this is not my cup of tea, the type of film i find myself fast forwarding because there are certain parts i don't want to see. However, I give my full congratulations to the director because i can see that it is a genuinely good film that i can respect, if not like.

The main aspect of this production I appreciate is the authenticity and realism (as you could probably tell from the summary). As a black 17 year old who has grown up in "the streets", I took great pleasure in witnessing what I believe to be the FIRST British PRODUCTION to capture the realism when portraying "the streets", with the dialogue being the main feature of that.The way this comment has been written may not lead you to believe that it has been devised by someone that has grown up in similar conditions to the film, so you may be puzzled and think "Why would he bother about how they sound?", the way I speak when with certain friends that I have grown up with is different obviously to the way my education ad A-Level English Literature teachers have taught me to write. Therefore, to see my dialect finally emerge without the creators having to refer to the false "Ali G Handbook on how to talk street' is refreshing.The issues around guns that it is tackling is also refreshing to see, as the government and media tend to create scapegoats and leave the issue at that, rather than explore the roots of why things like guns tend to surface. Although the reasons in Bullet Boy is one of many types of reason, the film has explored it nonetheless.At the Question and Answer session after the screening I saw (involving Producers, Directors and Actors), there were 2 complaints that arose.The first was about the film stereotyping black people, I disagree with this and again have to say it is a true reflection of what happens often throughout many communities.There was also a complaint about the lack of hope. The director replied by informing the audience, the film's purpose was not a preaching device to miraculously change gun violence in the streets. Those weren't his words but I am sure you get the basis. I believe that the balance in Ricky, ex-convict who deep down is a nice person who wants to remain positive but faces many struggles, kills the idea of the film stereotyping. Ricky continuously states that the life he is entangled in isn't the life he wants to live, but makes the choice to keep the gun which sooner or later indirectly results in his death. Not only does the death maintain the realism and prevent a fairytale ending offering a false sense of security, it doesn't glamourise Ricky's choice to keep the gun. Although he is seen to be making attempts to break out of the streets cycle and RELUCTANTLY has the gun...he has it nonetheless.As mentioned before, Ricky's mentality juxtaposed with his actions provides a great balance for avoiding stereotypes in addition to an unrealistic ending.Great film.