| Essexboys -
Film |
Apollo Movie Guide's - Review
of Essex Boys
Apollo
Movie Guide's
Apollo Score:51
The role of the getaway car driver has always intrigued
me. Here’s a person who doesn’t see any of
the action inside the bank, convenience store or wherever
the score is going down.
He watches his partners walk in all cool and casual, sits
and fidgets with his watch, and then he steps on the gas
when they run back out. The getaway car driver is normally
the quiet one of the group, always the observer.
Yet, because he’s not a part of the action, films
normally skip over the driver and focus on the guys with
the guns. After the promising opening scene of Essex Boys,
I thought I had finally found what I’d been yearning
for.
I watched and I watched and I watched. But beyond the
first five minutes, there is very little exploration of
the driver, or of anyone else for that matter.
Essex Boys is another in an increasingly long line of
British Quentin Tarantino wannabe flicks that show this
connection with a bit of style here and a line or two
of good dialogue there, but are dragged down by useless
fodder everywhere else.
Billy (Charlie Creed-Miles) is a driver on the rise. Fresh
from jail, he’s always had a reputation as a no-nonsense
kind of guy. Cool and collected, Billy can be counted
on when the cops are playing a game of bumper cars, trying
to knock the crooks off the road.
Of all the backstabbing goons in the world of crime, Billy
is the one most likely to come at you with a harmless
butter knife. He can be trusted. That’s why everyone
wants him on their side.
As gangs compete to corner the market on drug dealing
in English nightclubs, allegiances can be bought and sold
to the highest bidder. Trust is never a part of the guarantee.
Things get predictably ugly as the war between rivals
heats up.
This leads to unnecessarily grotesque scenes that seem
to exist to garner shock factor more than anything else.
As the number of copycat British gangster films continues
to rise, filmmakers seem to be grasping for ways to trick
the audience into thinking their work is fresh.
The result is an increasing number of brutal shots that
try to outdo the film that was released the week before.
Essex Boys features a large cast, none of whom are at
all interesting or unique.
They all sound the same and show very little distinctiveness.
I had high hopes for Billy to save the film and pull something
off at the end, giving reason for such a band of dull
gangsters to be brought to the screen.
Alas, further disappointment comes, as the ending is as
pointless as the rest of the movie. Hopefully, British
filmmakers will soon see the light and realize that there’s
more to movies than being the next Tarantino. If any good
should come from Essex Boys, it is proof that the British
gangster genre is dead.
Ryan Cracknell |
| Contact : bernard.omahoney@bernardomahoney.com |
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