Minnie Mouth (High Heels And Low Lifes (DVD))

Member Name: oldreekie

Product:	High Heels And Low Lifes (DVD)
Date:	13/07/01 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: funny, great performances, easy to flow script

Disadvantages: dodgy first half

Minnie Driver is the star of this Thelma&Louise-esque comic tale of big-money bank jobs and blackmail.

Minnie plays Shannon, a honest and hard-working NHS nurse who, along with her best American friend, Frances (Mary McCormack), intercepts a phone call being made by a geezer who is in the process of assisting in a safety-deposit-box robbery.

Having already attempted to report the incident to the police and not being believed on account of the fact that they are two drunk girlies, when they learn that the robbers netted £10m they decide to blackmail them for £300K.

However things don't go quite as smoothly as the girls had hoped and soon their lives are in peril as word of their plan gets to the big boss man of the gang and a couple of inept comedy police-men seem to be just a couple of steps behind them.

And that's it. No Russian doll multi-layered plot of cross and double cross, just a nice simple, easy to follow plot.

And much to my surpirse I quite enjoyed it, not being the "chick-flick" I was expecting..

It does get off to a very shakey start, resembling a very bad sit-com episode a la "Birds of a Feather", however after a while things do start to pick-up considerably and the last half is quite entertaining.

It is a comedy and altho I didn't bust a gut laughing (which was quite lucky for the people next to me as my diet isn't quite going to plan at the mo) it was quite amusing. I had a couple of laugh-out-loud moments but it was mostly little chortles.

Both the main leads do a great job, Minnie Driver being especially excellent as Shannon, who initially is very unsure about getting involved in the whole enterprise, however as events hot up she discovers a thoroughly ruthless streak, altho never forgetting her compassionate nursing side.

I've never heard of Mary McCormack but she was very good as the bf.

The only other big name in t
he movie is Michael Gambon who play's the gay Mr Big (no he is not a porn star, he is the gang boss), and bears more than a passing physical resemblance to a recently deceased East End gangster, however I'm sure that is just a pure coincidence.

I recognised most of the rest of the cast from their apperances on tv, there was the guy from The Fast Show, that weird looking guy from Big Train, and him from that sit-com with the guy from Minder (was it called Dad?), amongst others.

As much as I enjoyed it, I did have free tickets, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend anybody to go see it at the cinema. There isn't a "must see" vibe about it and apart one superb montage/split screen sequence, there isnt anything particularily cinematic about it, so you might be better waiting until it is on video or tv, when you can watch it with a couple of beers.

The movie is directed by Mel Smith who also directed, Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie, so he is keeping up a tradition of working with Minnie Drivers (Mini Drivers,) D'ya geddit? Mr Bean drives a mini!. Ah forget it. I thought it was funny. If you don't like it write to Jonathan Ross c/o BBC, coz it's his joke, I nicked it from Film 2001.

The movie has a "15" certificate. Some bad language, a couple of people get shot, some bare bossoms (not Minnies tho).

Summary: