Silent Night

What a watch, a Classic British Gangster Film. It Offers it all, a storyline with depth, humour and a twisting plot line. The film is only enhanced by first class acting, leaving you wanting more. A must watch for all.

When one sees a poster for film like this, it instantly conjures up images of Lock Stock, or worse, Tarantino rip-offs. You expect a cavalcade of meaningless profanity or words like 'mug' and 'shooter' ringing in your ears in the first 10 minutes. Not to mention every other character rocking a quirky sobriquet. You might also expect a predictable plot with two-dimensional characters and endless clichés. Most of the time you'd probably be right. But not with this. While this film does tick a lot of the brit-grit boxes, it does so in such a way that keeps within a style of its own. It walks that tightrope that many films of this ilk do in a genre that is possibly dying a bit of slow death and while it does wobble in the breeze from time to time it never tumbles into the pit of banality. What stops it from doing so is a mixture of clever direction from Will Thorne, finely nuanced performances from the cast, subtle yet highly effective cinematography from Malcolm Hadley and a chilling score from Keiran Merrick. All of their combined efforts do make for a very enjoyable watch. OK, it's not without its problems. For instance, the narrative drive of the film can, at times, feel a little tired; albeit not for the want of effort. It's a bit like watching a determined cyclist giving their all to win a race and having to slow every now and then to catch a breath. There is also the odd scene here and there that could do with a trim, in my view, but nothing that spoils the film. This is, overall, an impressive piece of work form a director that is not scared to take risks. I dare say there will be a few die-hard Lock Stock fans that will feel a little wrong-footed with what this film offers and it may be asking a little too much of it's key demographic in terms of open-mindedness but for those who enjoy a more thinking persons crime flick, this is bound to score enough points.

Some good cameos and well shot scenes. Enjoyed watching it.

Really good film well worth a watch a good story line some great