True Grit (Essex Boys (DVD))

Member Name: x_elff_x

Product:	Essex Boys (DVD)
Date:	27/07/01 (144 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Not playing for laughs, Uses the whole county, some great performances

Disadvantages: Script a bit heavy in places, a little confusing

Although I will talk a bit about the DVD at the end of this review, there are so few extras on it, that I feel it is more appropriate to leave it in this category

Director: Terry Winsor

Writers: Jeff Pope, Terry Winsor

Stars: Sean Bean, Alex Kingston, Charlie Creed-Miles, Tom Wilkinson, Larry Lamb

Certificate: 18

Runtime: 98 minutes

Made: UK 2000

British gangster flicks are so thick on the ground lately you could be forgiven for thinking that every person who lives in the sarf-east of England is either a Mr Big sporting nothing but a single letter for a name or one of his down-at-heel associates. Unfortunately, however, many of them have let style get in the way of plot.

Not Essex boys, though. This is a surprisingly taut thriller from the directorial hand of Terry Winsor whose best known work to date is probably television's The Thief Takers. Inspired by an actual event - the discovery by police of a Range Rover containing three dead drug lords in the wilds of Essex - Winsor and his co-writer Jeff Pope have worked back from this point to construct a fictional yarn.

Billy Reynolds (Charlie Creed-Miles) is a fresh-faced youth whose life is going nowhere, so when his boss, Mr D (Tom Wilkinson), asks him to do a spot of driving for an old friend Jason Locke (a convincingly-accented Sean Bean) he jumps at the chance, no questions asked, of course.

Jason is an ex-con with a penchant for acid, who has just finished a five-year stretch while keeping his mouth firmly buttoned as regards his nefarious associates. As Billy hooks up with him, Jason is looking to settle a few scores while trying to keep his violent temper under control with her indoors, Lisa (Alex Kingston) who has been struggling to keep the faith during his half-decade absence.

But as Jason tries to right his wrongs, Billy discovers his is not the only ambition he has to watch out for and finds himself inc
reasingly mired in the seedy world of the Essex drugs scene.

Charlie Creed-Miles steals the show, with his naive panic as Billy and deadpan narration essentially making the film. He is very ably abetted by Bean and Kingston, although I found it difficult to shift her ER persona from my mind. She never fully shakes her wholesome image, leaving you wishing they had cast someone a little more hard-faced in the role.

Where Essex Boys differs from the likes of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, is that it isn't continually looking for laughs - quite the opposite, in fact. There is humour in this movie, but more often there is violent reality. It is also refreshing to see that gangland drama doesn't have to be exclusively set in the inner city, with plenty of rural scenes on offer which gives Essex Boys a real feel of Britishness.

On the downside, however, the script has a tendency to become lumpen, particularly during the exchanges between Jason and his long-suffering spouse. The plot, too, becomes very convoluted towards the middle. Overall, this film isn't going to win any huge prizes, but is entertaining and short enough not to outstay its welcome.

--DVDetails--

Region 2

Ratio Widescreen 1:85:1

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Extras: Chapter review, original theatrical trailer, subtitles

The picture and sound quality of Essex Boys are top notch and particularly pleasing, as the soundtrack is excellent and really does add a lot to this film. The package is totally let down when it comes to extras, however, with only the obligatory chapter review, trailer and English subtitles.

I really did expect there to be more in this package. At the very least it would have been nice to have seen a little more information about the historical event which inspired the movie and surely it would not have been beyond them to cobble a few cast biographies together?

Ultimately,
while the film is above average, the DVD package is, at best, merely adequate and, therefore, not really worth the extra outlay (the DVD retails at around £12).


(originally published and written by me, for www.iofilm.co.uk)

Summary: