I thought Nick Love made a good film in Football Factory, but this is a massive step backwards. It's too early for an homage to Guy Richie so this can only be described as a complete rip-off. However, whereas 'Lock, Stock' and 'Snatch' were well-written, imaginative and clever stories this merely attempts to follow their formula to the letter (right down to the freeze-frame narratives), but without any of the style or wit. Even the choice of music is predictable, clumsy and over-stretched. The film jumps from the aforesaid freeze-frames to the mini-videos portraying the leads' entrance to clubs etc, but the accompanying 80's standards and the sheer volume of these shots takes away any impact the pieces might have had even if they had been included less than every five minutes.
The story itself is crime film by numbers too. Local crime-boss takes young kid under wing, makes millions of pounds but then they lose the lot in just six months due to drug-use. I doubt Aerosmith could have gone through that much cash and coke in that short time, and the notion that that the baddie's girl would still have gone for the pasty-faced, broke, coke-head boy in this state would be unbelievable in any other context than this waste of tape.
All that said, if you are a die-hard fan of the new wave of British gangster film, then you might get something out of this, even if it is just the knowledge that 'Face' is no longer the most forgettable example of the genre.
Wait for this on satellite TV if there is absolutely nothing else to watch (I'm including Dad's Army) and in the meantime if you want to see a truly great Costa-Del-Crime movie go and rent Sexy Beast.
The story itself is crime film by numbers too. Local crime-boss takes young kid under wing, makes millions of pounds but then they lose the lot in just six months due to drug-use. I doubt Aerosmith could have gone through that much cash and coke in that short time, and the notion that that the baddie's girl would still have gone for the pasty-faced, broke, coke-head boy in this state would be unbelievable in any other context than this waste of tape.
All that said, if you are a die-hard fan of the new wave of British gangster film, then you might get something out of this, even if it is just the knowledge that 'Face' is no longer the most forgettable example of the genre.
Wait for this on satellite TV if there is absolutely nothing else to watch (I'm including Dad's Army) and in the meantime if you want to see a truly great Costa-Del-Crime movie go and rent Sexy Beast.