Yardie

Solid first feature from Idris Elba. It tells the story of a young Jamaican man as he struggles in the criminal underworld of 1980's England. It is well shot and acted but the screenplay is severely lacking, which is a pity. It's just a cliche ridden movie with the usual tropes from every gangster movie ever made, where you can predict every twist and turn it takes. It's not a bad movie, mind you, as the period reconstruction and feel is very well made, and even the story is not terrible, it's just derivative and predictable which leaves you with a bit of an empty feeling by the end.

From the get go, the way the film is shot grips you. A film with some rough edges, but a great cast of actors and a brilliant story line. Idris Elba has really made a mark in his debut of directing.

Well well, a lot of the people on here complaining that they "couldn't understand half the dialogue". Um...It's a movie called Yardie, about Jamaicans. In fact the dialogue is perfectly intelligible, so ignore these Daily Mail fools. Try watching Rockers if you want to hear real patios. (Though I suspect you may not, it'd probably send you into an apoplectic gammon rage).

Also some of these reviews are trashing the movie out of hand. I can't imagine what their problem can be with Ghanaian-descended actor and director Idris Elba. Seriously guys if you just plain don't like black people there's a name for that and you probably shouldn't watch movies about Jamaicans. Some people also complaining that the director isn't Jamaican. Presumably they're also furious that Spielberg isn't an alien, or a dinosaur.

With that out of the way, this is a visually and sonically sumptuous movie. It looks gorgeous and while the plot is fairly standard gangster fare (I haven't read the book so I judge the film purely on its own merits) it's an enjoyable and well made film, and definitely worth your time.

Ignore the obvious hater comments and make your own mind up.

As a Londoner i realised that a movie like this had never been made. We don't have any movies or historical reference material which provides insight into the journey Jamaican expats made and what it was like to settle iinto the Uk during the 70s and 80s. Its scandalous that this movie hasn't been made before. Although the book makes us despise the lead character D, in the movie he came across as captivating. Human, flawed and often funny. In fact there is this trail of humour which filters through the dialogue which is also my experience of being with my Jamaican friends. Sometimes humour in unlikely places in the movie especially with the audience's attitude to Rico. A nasty yet colorful character played by a white man who sounds Jamaican and it turns out Steven Graham does actually have Jamaican heritage and grew up in a Caribbean neighbourhood in Manchester as a child. He is excellent in this movie. The lead actress who plays D's wife has never been in a movie before and her performance electrified the screen. Part of the generation of Jamaicans who came over to work in the NHS, she represents all that is good and solid in the community. I found it fascinating and felt it was important for all Londoners and Jamaicans to see this movie. A slice of our history

I think the storyline is great in this movie and there are some great acting performances in this movie too. The main thing that threw me off was Stephen Graham playing a Jamaican character. He's one of my favourite British actors but I'm really confused by this role. I can't tell if he's supposed to be a mix of Jamaican and British or he completely messed up the accent. It was honestly quite amusing at times but still prevented this from being taken seriously. I definitely recommend watching it and Aml Ameen had a really good performance. It was also interesting to find out that Idris Elba directed this, I hope he continues to make movies.