(2012-04-28 19:21:38)

Great cast

This review is from: London Boulevard (Amazon Instant Video) Ok......this movie was a complete waste of time. Don't watch it, you will be sorry. Colin Farrell was sexy and I loved to watch him walk.....haha.....that was about all the enjoyment I got out of this horrible movie. Not only was it a "what?" storyline, I couldn't understand a bloody word they said half the time. I understand this was a gangster movie but, f--- this and f--- that everyother word???---not so much. Horribly done.....and I am with the other review that was just glad it was over, even though he dies in the end.

antoniotierno

(2012-04-28 05:22:23)

brutal but very original story

Colin Farrell is totally credible as a tough guy but the movie featuresother stunning performances like Keira Knightley and Ray Winstone, whomake the film pleasant and interesting. Monahan borrows something fromother famous flicks such as Martin Scorsese's The Departed andCarlito's way. The story plays out perfectly and the pleasures aremany, including Farrell's reflective smiles when things go wrong andKnightley's depiction of a beautiful woman (with fame and money butalways needy and selfish). Not to mention the London perfect locationsand the believable depiction of the mob's underworld. The finale leavesa bit a bad taste but the story is wonderful on the whole

James Hitchcock

(2012-04-27 20:16:36)

Littered with Corpses

Although there have been some excellent examples, such as "BrightonRock" and "Get Carter", gangster films have traditionally not had thesame cultural importance in the British cinema as they have in America,possibly because organised gangsterism has not been such a problem inthis country. (The heyday of the Kray and Richardson gangs in the 1960swas about as close as we ever came to having our own homegrown Mafia).Since the success of Guy Ritchie's "Lock, Stock and Two SmokingBarrels" in the late nineties, however, there has been a modest revivalof the British gangster flick."London Boulevard" is a recent entry in this revival. Mitchell, a SouthLondon criminal, is released from jail after serving a sentence forgrievous bodily harm. (Mitchell's full name is something of a mystery.At one point he is referred to as "Harry Mitchell", but his sisterBriony simply calls him "Mitchell" as though this were a Christian namerather than a surname). Intending to "go straight", he resists theattempts of his friend Billy to get him involved in criminalenterprises and finds a job as bodyguard to Charlotte, a young actressand model who is suffering from the attentions of the paparazzi.Mitchell, however, has also come to the notice of Rob Gant, a notoriousand ruthless gangster, who tries to recruit him into his gang. There isalso a sub-plot about Mitchell's attempts to get "justice" (for whichread revenge) for an old friend stabbed to death by a couple ofhoodlums.The standard of acting varies. Colin Farrell as Mitchell was notoutstanding, although better here than in the last film of his I saw,Oliver Stone's overblown epic "Alexander". Keira Knightley as Charlottewas trying a bit too obviously to get away from her "costume dramaqueen" image. There were, however, useful contributions from thesupporting cast- from Ray Winstone, generally a good villain, as Gant,from Anna Friel as the sluttish Briony and David Thewlis as Jordan,Charlotte's camp, world-weary manager. This role made me realise justhow versatile Thewlis is as an actor; the last film in which I saw himwas "The Lady" in which he plays the unworldly, idealistic academicMichael Aris, about as different a character from Jordan as one couldimagine. (The sexually ambiguous name Jordan, best associated inBritain with a well-known glamour model, may have been used to suggestthe character's effeminacy. Other names might also have symbolicimplications; it is presumably no accident that the thuggish robberGant has the first name Rob).This is the sort of film which I have difficulty in evaluating.Although it was William Monahan's directorial debut it was, on atechnical level, an accomplished piece of film-making, telling itsstory in a fluent and compelling manner. It is attractivelyphotographed, with some telling contrasts between the upmarket anddownmarket areas of London. As I pointed out above there are somedecent performances from the cast.The problem arises from the fact that all the characters, virtuallywithout exception, are so damned unsympathetic. It has been describedas "neo-noir", but it differs in a significant way from the films noirsof the forties and fifties. Those films sought to blur the differencebetween good and evil, replacing it with moral ambiguity. "LondonBoulevard" does not so much blur that distinction as abolish itentirely, making everyone unambiguously evil. It is difficult to enjoya film which does not contain a single character with whom one canidentify. The plot reminded me of one of those Jacobean revenge dramaswhich end with the stage littered with corpses, but at least suchdramas were often written in some sublime poetry. There is littlepoetic about "London Boulevard", unless one is capable of findingpoetry in constant use of the f-word. 5/10

(2012-04-27 00:59:09)

The Dark Side: Miscalculations

LONDON BOULEVARD is a British film that is unafraid to take a long hard look at the dark side of London - organized and unorganized crime, miscreants of all ages, vengeance, substance abuse - and still come up with a 'bruised hero' with whom we can relate. The film has its problems: the dialects of these 'English speaking' actors is so thick that it becomes necessary to turn on the subtitles to understand the dialogue, some characters are insufficiently define, the music soundtrack overwhelms the action too frequently. Yet the cast of actors is so strong that they overcome these problems and ultimately give us a terrifyingly real glimpse at the low life happenings in that major metropolis.Mitchel (Colin Farrell, looking better than he has in years) has just been released from jail, an experience he never wants to face again, but his old friends such as Billy (Ben Chaplin) tempt him to get back into big crime. Mitchel still stops by the street people to see his old friend Joe (Alan Williams) who warns Mithcel to stay away from Billy. Mitchel finds a job as a bodyguard for actress Charlotte (Keira Knightley) who stays secluded from the omnipresent paparazzi in her home where she lives with an ex-actor now druggie Jordan (David Thewlis). Billy learns of Mitchel's new job and informs the local crime lord Gant (Ray Winstone) and a plot to rob Charlotte's home is hatched. Mitchel will have nothing to do with the plot, warning Gant that he will never work for crime again. A series of brutal murders occur including the slaughter of old Joe by two young footballers - a deed that enrages Mitchel, but even this need for vengeance is something he cannot carry out. The plot thickens and other atrocities arise, but Mitchel has fallen in love with the delicate Charlotte and urges her to flee to Los Angeles to rid herself of the dangers and the paparazzi. But despite Mitchel's attempts to stay clean in the midst of the thickening mire that Gant creates, he is thwarted at every turn. The ending is a major surprise.William Monahan (Body of Lies, The Departed, Kingdom of Heaven) wrote and directed this film based on the novel by Ken Bruen. It is harsh, it is dark, but it is a fine example of film noir. Colin Farrell is superb in the every difficult role of Mitchel - his acting skills are polished and his characterization is wholly credible. The supporting cast - Winstone, Thewlis, Knightley, Chaplin, Eddie Marsan, Anna Friel as Mitchel's alcoholic wasted sister, Jamie Campbell Bower - is astonishingly fine. This is not a film for the fainthearted, but it is a powerful little movie with many bits of afterburn to keep the audience guessing. Grady Harp, November 11

wacoastguy

(2012-04-26 19:15:45)

Carlito's Way ---- No Way!

I read a review suggesting that this grating flick is on par with"Carlito's Way" and I just have to say no way! First of all, ColinFarrell is a far cry from Al Pacino, and that is being kind. I alwaysfeel as if I am watching a huge pair of eyebrows attached to a reallysmall person when I am watching Colin Farrell, so much so that I justabout cannot watch any movie he has ever been in. And as far as thecharacters in this movie, these people are just totally, infuriatinglyworthless. I really struggled to watch this movie from beginning to endbecause of the idiotic, adult-child characters, and of course there isthe extremely predictable storyline. Here is what this very unenjoyablemovie is about: A man gets out of prison and then he is tempted to getback into "the life." It was obvious from that point (which was aboutseven minutes into the movie) how it was going to turn out. Save yourmoney and rent a decent movie like "Carlito's Way" which the plot for"London Boulevard" was painfully, obviously absconded.

danew13

(2012-04-26 04:21:58)

Trite and Disjointed Gangster Flick

The heavyweight cast for this film might cause one to think he'sin-store for an entertaining time...In truth this was a waste of timekilling 90 minutes or so watching a tired old formula 60s style ex concan't seem to go straight story. The editing is terrible making youwonder what happened in certain scenes.Stars Colin Farrell, Keira Knightley and Ray Winstone do good jobs,although I found Keira to be sleepwalking the role..but maybe that wasbecause of the the dope that was everywhere. Still,their roles don'thold together unlike far better films such as Get Carter and PointBlank. Perhaps if Farrell's character stayed more on track withKnightley instead of running around most of the time, yet goingnowhere, the film would have had a better feel and focus.From start to finish there is a hopeless feel about the main charactersand there is the rule in the UK that goes back to Shakespeare: Bad guyshave to meet with their dramatic resolution. Even that's hard toswallow in this flick. I just wonder if the stars got paid for thisturkey.

Mondo_Giallo

(2012-04-19 05:15:10)

Mediocre crime drama

A convict is released from prison. He immediately finds himself workingas a bodyguard for a reclusive actress, while simultaneously involvedwith a ruthless crime lord. He becomes romantically involved with theactress and rejects the advances of the gangster. This leads to troubleof course.London Boulevard is a crime drama which doesn't serve up anything newat all. The bad but good-at-heart ex-con is a common character in thistype of film. While a gangster played by Ray Winstone is also somethingyou've probably seen before as well. The actress played by KeiraKnightly is a fairly uninteresting character that we never really getto understand, while her drug-addled hippy sidekick is a somewhattedious presence. So the characters aren't really all that engaging tobegin with. The story itself is a well-worn affair with few surprises.And it's soundtracked with a selection of British trad rock songs whichseems appropriate given that everything else is so familiar andclichГѓВ©d.It's not exactly a bad film, just a very mediocre one. A crime drama bynumbers you could say.

kimi_layercake

(2012-04-18 18:22:41)

"Unconventionally Stylish & Romantic"

"London Boulevard" is the story of a man newly released from prison whofalls in love with a reclusive young movie star and finds himself in aduel with a vicious gangster. Torn between these two, he decides thetake the matter in his own hands.Cast-wise, Unconventional and Beautiful. Colin Farrell plays a verysimilar role to "In Bruges", a recently released criminal who decidesto mend his ways but forced into bad company by gangster, Ray Winstonewho plays the character with perfection to scare. Colin Farrell looksvery conventional for the role and seems to play the role of reclusivehero more often with aplomb consistency. Kiera Knightley plays the roleof recently retired young Brit actress like she is just portrayingherself. The moments of Farrell and Knightley together on screen feelsvery romantic and ever lasting. Rest goes on well with their job withspecial mention of David Thewlis and Ben Chaplin."London Boulevard" strength lies in its Casting and Direction. TheStoryline might not be much to boost about with predictability creepingin time to time, but Direction is top notch. The scenes between RayWinstone And Colin Farrell and most importantly, Farrell and Knightleyis handled with perfection. The scenes between Farrell and Knightleyhave rare romance moments, but every moment together feels so genuinelyromantic and beautiful that the climax do bore gloominess. Overall, "London Boulevard" is a solid debut work of the Director,kudos to him. It's not big on entertainment, but watching this moviemakes us feel for each of the characters involved, like everything isso lifelike and melancholy yet exquisite. Watch it for anunconventional pleasure ride which will enrapture its viewers.My Verdict : 8/10

kevbee

(2012-04-15 23:52:38)

Dull and tired

So what was in the director's mind when he started this movie? ForgetGuy Richie ...let's make yet another London gangster flick .... so lotsof swearing .....like c*nt and f*ck but that's alright because they'resaid by some good looking actors. Not much of a plot ... but a greatsoundtrack from the 60's that has nothing to do with the time line ofthe movie. So who could think of such a thing? Only the screenwriterfrom the wildly over-rated film The Departed. - Hollywood's shallowremake of Hong Kong's brilliant Infernal Affairs. Colin Farrelldeserves better material than this. The charismatic and engaginggangster from In Bruges is here hijacked by a senseless and shallowscreenplay. A waste of the actors' time ... and a waste of ours too.

Mark W

(2012-04-15 11:47:19)

A good watch, but not as good as it could have been...

I was looking forward to this. A London based gangster film with agreat cast. The trailer looked fantastic...a great mix of cool, darkand a few funny lines too.About halfway through watching the film, i realised how good the guythat cut the trailer was. This isn't a bad film at all, but it's notthe film that the trailer advertises.Colin Farrell is pretty good apart from the dodgy cockney accent.. it'sjust not quite right and he seems too 'sorted' to have ever been just'one of the boys' before we went to prison.Ray Winstone is one of the UK's best actors...and he's all about theface and the eyes...just looking at his eyes between his lines usuallysays more than his actual dialogue does. In this film they chose to putthick NHS glasses on him... very cool i'm sure, but they hide his eyesand cover up a big part of his performance. I felt like he was wastedin this role.Anna Friel? Awesome...but not enough of her in the plot...didn't makemuch sense. And as for the bent copper? What was the point of thatcharacter?? I assume they cut some of his scenes because i can'tbelieve that part was scripted like that...Keira Knightley? Surprisingly great...totally believable performanceand looked great.David Thewlis? A stunning performance as usual...David gives this filmthe much needed boost in likable character it needed.As for the plot... it's a bit shaky. But, we could have let that go ifit had moved a bit quicker. I thought it moved very slowly and by thehalfway stage i was wondering when it was going to get moving.The end came as a shock.. and i can see why they did it, but it's toosimilar to 'Layer Cake' and a few other films... it's the 'credible'ending that is trying too hard not to be a Hollywood ending. It justends up leaving you cold. I really wasn't bothered one way or the otherby that stage. The kid in that scene is another character that justdoesn't seem believable to me...and i know London estates like thatvery well.To sum up... it's entertaining.. i'd watch it again... but it's not inthe same league as the classic British gangster movies.

grahamdunlop1966

(2012-04-13 21:43:23)

Good watch, not great...reminds me of something else....

Carlito's Way anyone? This is a movie which try's to be a lot of othermovies rather that it's own thing. The influences and characters can beseen in loads of other gangster movies. That's not necessarily a badthing as the plot and pace drive the movie along and make it quitewatchable and dare I say it, enjoyable. It's no classic, Colin Farrellmanages to swing between gangster monster and lovable rouge with easeand does an excellent job. As does Ray Winstone and the rest of thesupporting cast, but it is in the main a pretty obvious film, the cluesare always on show to work out the twists and turns that are meant tobe hidden. If you have a couple of hours to spare you may be pleasantlysurprised that this will pass the time nicely, just don't expect toomuch and you won't be disappointed. Have your pen and paper ready totick of all the clichГѓВ©s from other gangster flicks, in particularCarlito's way (which is a classic) and have some fun.

bradferrier-1

(2012-04-13 13:38:21)

Lacking a good finish.

Great movie from beginning to climax. The last minute of the movie wasterrible. This movie could have easily been an 8 or 9 if it wasn't forthe lackluster finale.Colin Farrell did a great job at the role in this movie; as with mostof his films.I get it directors, you guys want to shock and awe. The general publicdoes not though. It's been a very long time since I have seen a goodsolid movie(that wasn't created by Disney)with a good start, climax,and finale.Watch the movie, you'll like all of it but the ending as well!

Gordon-11

(2012-04-07 11:05:57)

I expected something a lot better

This film is about an man who wants to have a decent life again afterspending time in prison."London Boulevard" has a stellar cast, and one might think all thesetop stars wold only star in a good film. Well, they have all made thesame mistake. "London Boulevard" has a confusing and hardly engagingplot. It has two main subplots, which has no apparent connection toeach other. In fact, there are many smaller subplots (and charactersalso) that are poorly developed, that I struggle to see why they areshown in the first place. The whole film appears to be a disjointed andconfusing collection of scenes, that simply do not make any sense. Itis not helped by the dialogs which sounds more like mumbling thanspeaking. After watching the whole film, I struggle to understand evenone bit of the story. And it is very boring, without the excitement ortension that is expected of a gangster film. Basically everything about"London Boulevard" is below standard. I expected something a lotbetter.

James Hitchcock

(2012-04-07 03:39:04)

Littered with Corpses

Although there have been some excellent examples, such as "BrightonRock" and "Get Carter", gangster films have traditionally not had thesame cultural importance in the British cinema as they have in America,possibly because organised gangsterism has not been such a problem inthis country. (The heyday of the Kray and Richardson gangs in the 1960swas about as close as we ever came to having our own homegrown Mafia).Since the success of Guy Ritchie's "Lock, Stock and Two SmokingBarrels" in the late nineties, however, there has been a modest revivalof the British gangster flick."London Boulevard" is a recent entry in this revival. Mitchell, a SouthLondon criminal, is released from jail after serving a sentence forgrievous bodily harm. (Mitchell's full name is something of a mystery.At one point he is referred to as "Harry Mitchell", but his sisterBriony simply calls him "Mitchell" as though this were a Christian namerather than a surname). Intending to "go straight", he resists theattempts of his friend Billy to get him involved in criminalenterprises and finds a job as bodyguard to Charlotte, a young actressand model who is suffering from the attentions of the paparazzi.Mitchell, however, has also come to the notice of Rob Gant, a notoriousand ruthless gangster, who tries to recruit him into his gang. There isalso a sub-plot about Mitchell's attempts to get "justice" (for whichread revenge) for an old friend stabbed to death by a couple ofhoodlums.The standard of acting varies. Colin Farrell as Mitchell was notoutstanding, although better here than in the last film of his I saw,Oliver Stone's overblown epic "Alexander". Keira Knightley as Charlottewas trying a bit too obviously to get away from her "costume dramaqueen" image. There were, however, useful contributions from thesupporting cast- from Ray Winstone, generally a good villain, as Gant,from Anna Friel as the sluttish Briony and David Thewlis as Jordan,Charlotte's camp, world-weary manager. This role made me realise justhow versatile Thewlis is as an actor; the last film in which I saw himwas "The Lady" in which he plays the unworldly, idealistic academicMichael Aris, about as different a character from Jordan as one couldimagine. (The sexually ambiguous name Jordan, best associated inBritain with a well-known glamour model, may have been used to suggestthe character's effeminacy. Other names might also have symbolicimplications; it is presumably no accident that the thuggish robberGant has the first name Rob).This is the sort of film which I have difficulty in evaluating.Although it was William Monahan's directorial debut it was, on atechnical level, an accomplished piece of film-making, telling itsstory in a fluent and compelling manner. It is attractivelyphotographed, with some telling contrasts between the upmarket anddownmarket areas of London. As I pointed out above there are somedecent performances from the cast.The problem arises from the fact that all the characters, virtuallywithout exception, are so damned unsympathetic. It has been describedas "neo-noir", but it differs in a significant was from the films noirsof the forties and fifties. Those films sought to blur the differencebetween good and evil, replacing it with moral ambiguity. "LondonBoulevard" does not so much blur that distinction as abolish itentirely, making everyone unambiguously evil. It is difficult to enjoya film which does not contain a single character with whom one canidentify. The plot reminded me of one of those Jacobean revenge dramaswhich end with the stage littered with corpses, but at least suchdramas were often written in some sublime poetry. There is littlepoetic about "London Boulevard", unless one is capable of findingpoetry in constant use of the f-word. 5/10

Lou O

(2012-03-31 19:11:45)

Underrated, but now on DVD appreciation for this film sure to grow.

Monaghan has a witty way with tough guys, evident from THE DEPARTED andBODY OF LIES, and his talent for writing colourful characters is in noway restricted here by the London setting with its PERFORMANCE-esquemix of geezers and toff tossers. He really rises spectacularly to thechallenge, as a non-Brit, of making a Brit gangster flick and at thesame time making it something recognizably his own: Monaghan apparentlyonly decided to get into screen writing after realizing his preferredcareer – all purpose Man of Letters – had gone out with the dinosaurs,so it's not surprising then that when Ray Winstone is called upon thistime to assert himself as "the Daddy," he angles a little literaryanalysis into the routine early on. This is nice and droll – enjoyable– and it makes the later scene, in which he must drawl the word c*ntabout 20 times in a minute, all the funnier. (Farrell also quotespoetry, while practically every other line out of Thewlis'sdissipated-rake-one-time-actor is a highbrow quip of some description.)So, the film is funny; and not in a Guy Ritchieslapstick-and-irony-yield-diminishing-returns kind of way, but in anagreeably amusing, actually pretty cool kind of way. Humour though, isjust one part of it.Primarily, the film plays as legitimate drama; as a somewhat sad storyof the budding, ultimately thwarted love of Farrell's sensitiveex-con-and-would-be-ex-gangster, and Knightly's hurt and fragile,reclusive actress. Farrell and Knightly have good chemistry and thescript brings them together and establishes their relationship withgreat economy. They're an attractive pair whose affection for oneanother quite immediately, without any unnecessary scenes or highdrama, feels right and believable.Other posters, and some critics when it was released, have called thefilm muddled. This is misleading – undeniably yes, there's a certainamount of contrivance to the plot – but there's absolutely no muddle tothe film in the way mixes its 'tasty', c*nt-riddled Britgangsterish-ism with its attempts at legitimate drama. With a nicevisual style and a grooved out mood courtesy of a good soundtrack andrelaxed editing – London BOULEVARD reminded me of nothing more than ofsomething by Michael Mann. Mann has that much more earnestness and thesilliness in his films is that bit more unintentional, whileconversely, London BOULEVARD isn't quite done with as fine a touch as aMann film; but he and Monaghan are similar in their way of making pulpycharacters into nicely realized, real-feeling people and fashioninggenuine, involving drama at the centre of what are essentially thrillvehicles.London BOULEVARD is plenty thrilling; it might not have been tillsometime in that I was vibing on it the way I was the entire durationof COLLATERAL, say. Some of the many music cues initially seemed a bitredundant, but the film soon gets the right atmosphere about it – itachieves an irrepressible sense of cool - and watching it becomes agreat pleasure.8/10

priyantha-bandara

(2012-03-31 07:26:54)

Classic crime movie with a novel turn

Mitchel (Collin Farrell) is just released from prison. And he don'thave any intention of going back in though his good old life has quitea few creative methods of living to put him back there. Not exactly agangster but hot tempered and known around the block, Mitchel looks fora fresh start. He gets to work for a solitary actress Charlotte (KeiraKnightley) who is broken after controversy and disturbed to brim withpaparazzi. In the mean time find's him selves caught up between a ganglord and his so called friend who wants to recruit him for their dirtywork. Unexpectedly falling for the actress and making the biggest ganglord in town his grave enemy, Mitchel starts to struggle to balance hislife and get out of everything clean. "London Boulevard" is an entertaining movie. It has drama, crime andquite a bit of action in it as well. And it's quite straight and brutalwhen it comes to shooting and killing people. Amidst all that the moviefirmly builds up the Mitchel character which is portrayed well byFarrell (By now I'm quite disappointed of him not appearing inHollywood movies anymore). He got a sister who is mischievous whom hetries to take care of the way he can, but hard to tolerate with. He gotfriends whom are junkies or crooks he really cannot trust. All he wantsis to live clean but that's the only thing he fails to achieve. Theother characters are pretty much strong as well. Charlotte the actressseems to have a lot going around her and now looking for earlyretirement after disliking many what had happened. The gang lord Granlikes to show his might around the block and a tough guy in a cleansuit. The movie has a good phase. It hardly drags or hardly over accelerates.The script is good which I had a little difficult time to catch up dueto British pronunciation and sub titles came for my rescue. However comparing with those good gang movies which came out in Brittonlike Layer Cake or Green Street Hooligans, London Boulevard is prettyimmature. It has a good plot but not a very creative one or a memorableone. You may enjoy this movie no doubt. But if you felt that it endedtoo soon welcome to my boat. More of my reviews at flickshout.blogspot.com

Moobee

(2012-03-30 14:35:09)

great characters study, great script, great performance, hard not to be hooked

the thing work for this movie, I guess is the layers of eachcharacters, a wonderful writing on almost each character, from thestreet Big issue seller to the leading roles, all were given a gooddepth of the investment. The supporting characters are there for itspurpose and because of that, you can see the strong structure inscript. the layers of each character make this "surreal" worldbelievable otherwise, it is hard to watch for the plots and some of theclichГѓВ©. other plus is the well casting and lovely performance from all thecasts, though you can tell the directer is trying to set up the toneand style like quentin Tarantino but fail to have the edge of it BUT apromising start for his own style to come. a bit low-rated, so I give 7out of 10 in hope to balance other way-low ratings.

(2012-03-30 00:30:05)

All the components, none of the thrill and Farrell looks good in a suit.

Great soundtrack! Fantastic actors. Dayum, Farrell looks good in a suit. But aside from that, meh. It's just not really cohesive. Farrell's character wants to go straight yet he's the most violent of all the players and I didn't feel it was because he needed to be. And others are correct about the accents. If you watch it, just to see Colin in a suit, of course, have the subtitles on. It was a disappointment but man, Farrell looks good in a suit. Two stars for the movie, three stars for the suit, four for the soundtrack. Averages a three rating.

Angelus2

(2012-03-25 05:14:18)

Mediocre at its best

Mitchel is an ex-criminal who wants to leave behind his criminal waysand is offered a job as a handyman for a famous movie-star, but Mitchelfind that a underworld boss known as Gant wants Mitchel to work forhim.I was expecting a suave British gangster movie, one that would putBritish greats such as Get Carter, Lock Stock, Snatch and the recentRocknRolla to shame, but what we got instead was a film that was barelygangster, comedy, drama and romance orientated. Secondaly when youconsider the rich cast with the likes of Colin Farrel, Keira Knightly,Ray Winstone, Sanjay Bhasker and Anna Friel, its very disappointing.Colin is someone I'd watch and even go far as saying is perhaps one ofmy favourite actors, but even he fails to entice his accent at times isdodgy but that is forgivable, in all honesty none of the actors wereused to their full capacity and the script was terrible with the 'deadclichГѓВ©s' of gangsters seeking protection money.Stay away from London Boulavard.

phd_travel

(2012-03-24 08:40:58)

Incomprehensible dialog and an unpleasant story

Two watchable stars Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley can't save thisunpleasant and meaningless story. The romance is weak. The dialog isincomprehensible. Really need subtitles. This movie is not meant to beunderstood by people who do not come from South London. At least theviolence is not too gratuitous. They try to age Colin a bit bylightening his hair but his silly grin now and then spoils things. Theonly interesting thing was watching how the paparazzi go after a moviestar (Keira). Seeing it from her point of view is quite good. BenChaplin is quite convincing as a cockney gangster. The main weakness isthe whole gangster plot. Don't understand why the big gangster neededColin so badly. Even if you are a fan of any of the actors just doyourself a favor and skip this one.