Another stab at the Brit-Gangster-Flick. The film fails to attain the level of suspense and wit required to make it even reasonable viewing.

The lead Mel Raido inspires little, and the supporting cast add little more. Colin Salmon and Maxine Peake are actors who deserve much better than this. Peake is her usual intense self, though she must be worrying about being typecast as the put upon wife/girlfirend. Salmon just seems bored to be there. The supporting cast are given very little screen time to develop their characters.

The direction seems muddled and the tone uneven. It feels as if they were trying to make a thoughtful movie but decided to just give in and display some rather unpleasant violence. The Bleach scene is quite unnecessary.

The whole film with it's clunky editing and confused message just gets more depressing as it goes and when we find out the lead has a happy ending we feel not elated but annoyed.

:rotten: