Roy was bemoaning the inability to make a decent British based crime thriller (see here) but (if he can overcome his aversion to the female lead!) is one worth seeing. I don’t know why it bombed at the box office as I found it mostly gripping and well acted: Keira Knightley in particular as the vulnerable actor hounded by paparazzi. Even Ray Winstone, reprising his gangster role, manages to squeeze even more menace than usual from the scumbag he plays. Colin Farrell is an engaging lead and add David Thewlis, Anna Friel, Eddie Marsan and Stephen Graham, you can see we have some of the best actors in the British business. And I haven’t mentioned Ben Chaplin, who seemed to have disappeared for a while, as an absolutely terrific sleazeball.
This was William Monahan’s debut as a director, having scripted The Departed (2006) amongst others; he also wrote and produced. It’s well shot and the only miscalculation, apart from a rather unraveling ending, is Sanjeev Bhaskar’s doctor who’s meant to be comic relief. The British gangster film has a terrible reputation; with the honourable exceptions of Sexy Beast (2000), with Winstone, and Gangster No.1 (2001), with Thewlis. This uses London locations well, eschewing the tourist spots apart from some eloquently composed skyline shots, conveying the sense of menace of estates and the gentility of the posh areas; gangster Winstone is comfortable in both locations.
Maybe the romance between the principals, Farrell is meant to be protecting Knightley, is too reminiscent of The Bodyguard (1992) or it was because Thewlis’ washed-up druggie actor is entirely unconvincing (as a character not as a performance). Well worth catching up with on DVD I suggest.
itp Global Film 
Yes, I missed this in cinemas. It’s a dreadful title, what does it mean?
The “dreadful reputation” of Brit gangster films really only dates from the deluge that followed Lock, Stock . . . I wasn’t particularly interested in Guy Ritchie’s films but they were influential outside as well as within the UK. Before the late 1990s, I’d say the reputation of the British gangster film was pretty high – Get Carter, Long Good Friday etc.?
But I do think that the great strength of British Cinema which was its crime films is not faring as well as its European rivals’ versions. This isn’t your roundabout way of getting a dig in at French Cinema is it Nick?
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No idea what the title means… You’re quite right that the dreadful rep surrounds the Richie-influenced ‘mockney’ rubbish boosted by Lottery dosh and I’ve nothing against French cinema, as long as it’s not focusing on its bourgeoisie (unless it’s Renoir taking the piss out of them).
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