Jackdaw

In grim seaside England, ex-soldier Jack Dawson (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) is struggling to care for his brother Simon. He takes a job from lowlife Silas to pick up a package floating in the North Sea. The money for the job isn't there and he decides to keep the package. Simon gets taken. While Jack is searching for Simon, he encounters his ex Bo (Jenna Coleman). The package actually belongs to mysterious drug lord Armstrong.

This is a lower budget British crime drama. I recognize a lot of these actors. I would like to get rid of some of gimmicky crime aesthetics. It is a little funny that the movie calls out some of it. I still would like Silas to be less disco and more Mean Streets. I'm fine with the motorbikes. The horses add a strange British backwoods touch. I like the father reveal and most of the final confrontation. This is not great, but it is good enough for the budget.

Director can shoot nice looking stuff, the opening ten mins are suspenseful and well shot/edited.

After that opening, the whole thing collapsed into a badly realised student film type script with no credible characters, terrible attempts at comedy and zero credibility.

Which is a shame as it had a promising set up, and was attempting to do a Walter Hill type action film.

Characters are paper thin badly realised cliches and the dialogue is dire. There isn't a realistic interaction between anyone after the opening ten or so minutes.

Telling, the opening was mostly silent.

Hire a proper scriptwriter next time (if there is a next time).

Missed opportunity.

I like what the writers were trying to do here. I am a sucker for the run all night kinds of films, just thrown into the action and barely getting an escape from it. But if anything I wanted more depth from the film and characters and it just didn't have enough time.

I loved the overall atmosphere of the film, the foggy and dark night time settings and the music was just on point and great the entire time.

The film is totally worth a watch, I enjoyed it in the end.

Also I have loved Oliver Jackson-Cohen ever since I first saw him in Faster(2010) so I had to watch this one and he really does a great job once again in his acting delivery.

Give it a chance if you are a sucker for these kind movies like me.

We have just watched JackDaw, loving its getgo, till Jack returns home to find out that his brother, Simon, was not home. From then on the main character interacts with a number of horrible characters who do not make any sense, ripping the film apart, forcing me and Mariefe to walk out of Robinsons cinema 3, that's how bad it transformed itself into.

Actually, the movie Mariefe and me originally wanted to watch was "Argylle." But that was being show at 9 pm, and that is why we ended up here. Really, we tried to like "Jackdw", tried to make it to the end, but we just couldn't. (this is our opinion)

"Jackdaw" is a dark Brittish thriller that looked like it could be cool with its badass hero and plenty of motorbike action. Plus it also stars Jenna Coleman and "This is Englands" Thomas Turgoose which is a bonus. But I wanted to like it more.

There are some decent little chases and shootouts, and a genuinely scary looking villian. But the plot is pretty straightforward and more and more unlikely things happen as it all comes to a finale that just fizzles out.

Its still decent enough though with its promising start, its overall style and cool music. As well as its nice cast. Still making for an above average gritty movie.