It has been a while since we had a movie review around these parts. I believe the head-scratcher "Stone" held the honor as the last film viewed by your humble correspondent, and that was way back in mid-March. That's quite a drought. Well, I finally found some movie watching time last night. "London Boulevard" may have been a movie that didn't catch a lot of attention. It is an English film, which tend to not grab as much attention as their Hollywood brethren. But this flick has some pretty big name actors, and the trailer looked pretty good. The verdict?
Disappointing. The movie started out the gate unbelievably strong. The acting was solid, to say the least (except really Kiera Knightly, she is annoying, why does everyone like her? She is not attractive, unless you like the anorexic type....) some brilliant one-liners, and the beginning of what looked to be a very interesting story-line. But, unfortunately, faded towards the end. It is a short film, only an hour and a half, which was a good thing at first, because it explained the quick start to the film, right down to business. But, as it where, I wish it had been longer so I could have better known what the hell was going on. It just stopped making sense. There were far too many subplots and sub-sub plots and it just became too confusing. It also just started to become pretty unrealistic. The phrase "losing the plot" is a British saying after all.
Going back to what I said about the acting: stellar. Colin Farell comes off as a cold, disinterested fellow, but that is what he is supposed to be: A guy who has lost interest in life and the seediness of the London underworld. David Thewlis? Give him an Oscar. Don't know that name? Look it up on IMDB, you will recognize him. He was fantastic in this film in his role as the caretaker to Knightly's recluse actress character. Ray Winestone? Put him up there with Thewlis. He was superb in his role as the tough gangster. He was more than convincing playing his character, and had some cracking one-liners to boot. Knightly was the only real disappointment, but maybe I am biased, because I think she is a shite actress (shite, wow, I need to lay off the English films).
Unfortunately the acting couldn't save the story in the end. It just became far too confusing at one point, and pretty unconvincing. Like I said, perhaps more background could have been given, at the expense of making the moving longer. It seemed like I was always missing some plot element, so I had no idea what the hell was going on. It is a shame, because it is a very nice concept. Farrell, just out of prison, is hired to be the bodyguard to a reclusive actress, but gets caught up with Ray Winestone's Gant, a Kingpin in the London underworld. It should have been better with this plot, but, like I said, the director lost the plot, and it ended up costing the movie.
I really wanted to like this film, British gangster films are usually top notch, and I like all three of the the male actors mentioned above. But it faded, faded badly, after passing the halfway mark.If this movie could be split in two halves, the first half was better than even Guy Ritchie's films, while the second half was "Stone".
Verdict: I am still going to say see it, just for the acting and some of the dialogue. Grade: C
If you liked this movie you might also like: British slang. Oh, and anything with Ray Winestone in it, the guy is, well, a "proper" actor, if you will.
Disappointing. The movie started out the gate unbelievably strong. The acting was solid, to say the least (except really Kiera Knightly, she is annoying, why does everyone like her? She is not attractive, unless you like the anorexic type....) some brilliant one-liners, and the beginning of what looked to be a very interesting story-line. But, unfortunately, faded towards the end. It is a short film, only an hour and a half, which was a good thing at first, because it explained the quick start to the film, right down to business. But, as it where, I wish it had been longer so I could have better known what the hell was going on. It just stopped making sense. There were far too many subplots and sub-sub plots and it just became too confusing. It also just started to become pretty unrealistic. The phrase "losing the plot" is a British saying after all.
Going back to what I said about the acting: stellar. Colin Farell comes off as a cold, disinterested fellow, but that is what he is supposed to be: A guy who has lost interest in life and the seediness of the London underworld. David Thewlis? Give him an Oscar. Don't know that name? Look it up on IMDB, you will recognize him. He was fantastic in this film in his role as the caretaker to Knightly's recluse actress character. Ray Winestone? Put him up there with Thewlis. He was superb in his role as the tough gangster. He was more than convincing playing his character, and had some cracking one-liners to boot. Knightly was the only real disappointment, but maybe I am biased, because I think she is a shite actress (shite, wow, I need to lay off the English films).
Unfortunately the acting couldn't save the story in the end. It just became far too confusing at one point, and pretty unconvincing. Like I said, perhaps more background could have been given, at the expense of making the moving longer. It seemed like I was always missing some plot element, so I had no idea what the hell was going on. It is a shame, because it is a very nice concept. Farrell, just out of prison, is hired to be the bodyguard to a reclusive actress, but gets caught up with Ray Winestone's Gant, a Kingpin in the London underworld. It should have been better with this plot, but, like I said, the director lost the plot, and it ended up costing the movie.
I really wanted to like this film, British gangster films are usually top notch, and I like all three of the the male actors mentioned above. But it faded, faded badly, after passing the halfway mark.If this movie could be split in two halves, the first half was better than even Guy Ritchie's films, while the second half was "Stone".
Verdict: I am still going to say see it, just for the acting and some of the dialogue. Grade: C
If you liked this movie you might also like: British slang. Oh, and anything with Ray Winestone in it, the guy is, well, a "proper" actor, if you will.
This movie entry failed to catch and grab my attention due to redundant statements and typos that indicate you don't proof your entries. In future travels, photos should be referenced from within the text - and ideally change from page to page. The map background makes the blog text difficult to read. From the blog entries I sampled, you appear to eat alot of pizza - you should at least comment on any locale unique characteristics of these meals. You may not want to post your photo album password in your blog if you intend a broader community to view this blog - the password can be changed once someone enters the photo album account.
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