Synopsis
When a gangster is released from jail, he tries to turn on his back on his gangster family and go clean. But when a gangster boss refuses to let him escape a life of crime, he has to fight to keep the romance that he has discovered in his new life with a reclusive movie star.
Cast
Colin Farrell, Keira Knightley, Ray Winstone, David Thewlis, Anna Friel
Genre
Crime, Drama, Romance
Release date
2010
Story
When Mitchel is released from jail after doing his time, his gangster family are keen to welcome him back into the fold. But at his welcome home party he decides that he wants no part of it and tries to live a clean life. He takes a job as a bodyguard and handyman for Charlotte, an actress who has paparazzi following her every move, even in her garden. As Mitchel and Charlotte spend more time together they begin to fall for each other. However, gangster boss Gant wants Mitchel to come and work for him, but when Mitchel refuses it’s not the answer Gant wants to hear. And so they are pitched into a battle – who can destroy the other’s life before its too late?
The Case For
Colin Farrell as a gangster with a gun, Keira Knightley as an anxious and nervous reclusive movie star, Ray Winstone oozing class as the gangster boss, David Thewlis as the wonderfully high hippy, even the underrated Anna Friel playing a fantastically flirty and off-the-wall addict – it really does have some amazing people play amazing characters so very well. What could we go wrong? Well…
The Case Against
…the story. Ok, so a gangster comes out of jail, works for a movie star and falls in love with her (kinda, they didn’t really do much to earn that ‘love’). Anyway, why was this gangster in jail? Why is a big gangster boss after him? Or even treating this underling like an equal? If it was in the film it was in between the flicking around between scenes that disrupted the continuity, stopped the building of the plot and wrecked any sense of suspense.
Summary
I really wish my verdict for this could be more favourable. It’s all there, the characters, the cast, even the promise of the storyline. But it’s done lazily and in a fashion that means you don’t really care too much about what’s going on with the characters, understand the storyline, or even care about the outcome of Mitchel, Charlotte and Gant. Which is not what you really want in a film.
Verdict
What has a promising cast and set-up doesn’t live up to its potential and it’s such a pity. Let have another director have a go with a script rewrite and you could have been looking at a blockbuster.
Case closed.
