On a rainy night in December 1995, three youngish gangsters called Tony Tucker, Patrick Tate and Craig Rolfe and plying their trade largely in Southend, were murdered in a Range Rover on a remote country lane near Rettendon in Essex. This drug-related gangland slaying has now become as staple a subject for the British cinema as Chicago's 1929 St Valentine's Day Massacre has been for Hollywood. Just as you've forgotten the explanation for the Rettendon killings, another one turns up with a slightly different plot and some new suspects. In 2000 we had Terry Winsor's Essex Boys where Sean Bean gets out of jail and pursues the grasses who put him away. Julian Gilbey's 2007 Rise of the Footsoldier traces the career of one Carlton Leach, a teenage West Ham football hooligan who becomes a major protection racketeer and ends up implicated in the Rettendon affair. Made in 2010, Sacha Bennett's Bonded by Blood...
- 1/27/2013
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Reviewed by Amanda Georges
(January 2011)
Directed by: Sacha Bennett
Written by: Graeme Muir and Sacha Bennett
Starring: Tamer Hassan, Vincent Regan, Terry Stone, Adam Deacon, Kierston Wareing and Dave Legeno
Just as the real-life Essex Boys saw themselves as big gangsters, “Bonded by Blood,” the film about their rise and fall, thinks of itself as a definitive gangster flick, but both crumble in the end.
The film, written and directed by Sacha Bennett, is based on the events that led to the 1995 murder of three drug gang members in the city of Rettendon, Essex. Pat Tate (Tamer Hassan), Craig Rolfe (Neil Maskell) and Tony Tucker (Terry Stone) are shot in the head while sitting in their Range Rover. Jack Whomes (Dave Legeno) and Mickey Steele (Vincent Regan) are convicted of the murders based on testimony from Darren Nicholls (Adam Deacon), who is later placed in witness protection. The story is not new to the screen,...
(January 2011)
Directed by: Sacha Bennett
Written by: Graeme Muir and Sacha Bennett
Starring: Tamer Hassan, Vincent Regan, Terry Stone, Adam Deacon, Kierston Wareing and Dave Legeno
Just as the real-life Essex Boys saw themselves as big gangsters, “Bonded by Blood,” the film about their rise and fall, thinks of itself as a definitive gangster flick, but both crumble in the end.
The film, written and directed by Sacha Bennett, is based on the events that led to the 1995 murder of three drug gang members in the city of Rettendon, Essex. Pat Tate (Tamer Hassan), Craig Rolfe (Neil Maskell) and Tony Tucker (Terry Stone) are shot in the head while sitting in their Range Rover. Jack Whomes (Dave Legeno) and Mickey Steele (Vincent Regan) are convicted of the murders based on testimony from Darren Nicholls (Adam Deacon), who is later placed in witness protection. The story is not new to the screen,...
- 2/1/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Reviewed by Amanda Georges
(January 2011)
Directed by: Sacha Bennett
Written by: Graeme Muir and Sacha Bennett
Starring: Tamer Hassan, Vincent Regan, Terry Stone, Adam Deacon, Kierston Wareing and Dave Legeno
Just as the real-life Essex Boys saw themselves as big gangsters, “Bonded by Blood,” the film about their rise and fall, thinks of itself as a definitive gangster flick, but both crumble in the end.
The film, written and directed by Sacha Bennett, is based on the events that led to the 1995 murder of three drug gang members in the city of Rettendon, Essex. Pat Tate (Tamer Hassan), Craig Rolfe (Neil Maskell) and Tony Tucker (Terry Stone) are shot in the head while sitting in their Range Rover. Jack Whomes (Dave Legeno) and Mickey Steele (Vincent Regan) are convicted of the murders based on testimony from Darren Nicholls (Adam Deacon), who is later placed in witness protection. The story is not new to the screen,...
(January 2011)
Directed by: Sacha Bennett
Written by: Graeme Muir and Sacha Bennett
Starring: Tamer Hassan, Vincent Regan, Terry Stone, Adam Deacon, Kierston Wareing and Dave Legeno
Just as the real-life Essex Boys saw themselves as big gangsters, “Bonded by Blood,” the film about their rise and fall, thinks of itself as a definitive gangster flick, but both crumble in the end.
The film, written and directed by Sacha Bennett, is based on the events that led to the 1995 murder of three drug gang members in the city of Rettendon, Essex. Pat Tate (Tamer Hassan), Craig Rolfe (Neil Maskell) and Tony Tucker (Terry Stone) are shot in the head while sitting in their Range Rover. Jack Whomes (Dave Legeno) and Mickey Steele (Vincent Regan) are convicted of the murders based on testimony from Darren Nicholls (Adam Deacon), who is later placed in witness protection. The story is not new to the screen,...
- 2/1/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Film review: 'Essex Boys'
LONDON -- British cinema has a thing for crime films at the moment, but at least "Essex Boys" moves away from the commonly used central London locations and bases itself firmly in the nearby county of Essex. The film is also an extremely well-made crime drama, featuring tough but intelligent turns by the male leads and a charismatic, endearing performance by Alex Kingston as a shrewd "Essex girl". Her profile in NBC's "ER" may help the film's push into the U.S. market.
The incident at the core of "Essex Boys" -- a mysterious crime that saw three men shot to death in a Range Rover in a remote region of Essex -- is real. But the story line surrounding this incident and the characters are fictional.
Young taxi driver Billy Reynolds (Charlie Creed-Miles) is hired to drive Jason Locke (Sean Bean), a notorious local criminal who is just out of prison. As Jason sets about gaining revenge on various other tough-guy types, Billy finds himself drawn into the Essex underworld.
Meanwhile, Jason's long-
suffering wife Lisa Kingston), dumped by her brutal husband, starts a secret affair with John Dyke (Tom Wilkinson), a gentlemanly criminal who also happens to employ the hapless Billy. As various gangs vie for control of the local drug trade, Billy realizes he has been drawn in too far. He finds himself driving Jason and his gang, who aim to slaughter drug couriers. In a shootout, he is saved by John, who then turns against the young driver when he finds out Billy has been seeing Lisa. John tries to kill Billy, which leads to the final twist and the revelation of Lisa's plotting.
Director/co-writer Terry Winsor has worked mainly in television, but he clearly relishes the transition to the big screen. He uses color well, and he turns the glittering lights of Southend and the beach houses of Canvey Island into fine backdrops to this gritty crime film.
The script by Winsor and his producer Jeff Pope offers nothing startlingly original -- young man in too deep, nasty gang boss, wronged and vengeful wife -- but they give their characters enough depth to pull them away from the oft-used cliches.
Although Bean does a good job as the nasty crime boss, the real stars are Kingston and Creed-Miles. Kingston has to deal with stark sexuality and brutal violence, but she instills quiet dignity and steely determination into her character.
ESSEX BOYS
Granada Films
Producer: Jeff Pope
Director: Terry Winsor
Screenwriters: Jeff Pope, Terry Winsor
Executive producer: Pippa Cross
Director of photography: John Daly
Production designer: Chris Edwards
Editor: Edward Mansell
Costume designer: Sarah Lubel
Color/stereo
Cast:
Jason Locke: Sean Bean
Lisa Locke: Alex Kingston
Billy Reynolds: Charlie Creed-Miles
John Dyke: Tom Wilkinson
Peter Chase: Larry Lamb
Henry Hobbs: Terence Rigby
Wayne Lovell: Michael McKell
Nicole: Amelia Lowdell
Running time - 102 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The incident at the core of "Essex Boys" -- a mysterious crime that saw three men shot to death in a Range Rover in a remote region of Essex -- is real. But the story line surrounding this incident and the characters are fictional.
Young taxi driver Billy Reynolds (Charlie Creed-Miles) is hired to drive Jason Locke (Sean Bean), a notorious local criminal who is just out of prison. As Jason sets about gaining revenge on various other tough-guy types, Billy finds himself drawn into the Essex underworld.
Meanwhile, Jason's long-
suffering wife Lisa Kingston), dumped by her brutal husband, starts a secret affair with John Dyke (Tom Wilkinson), a gentlemanly criminal who also happens to employ the hapless Billy. As various gangs vie for control of the local drug trade, Billy realizes he has been drawn in too far. He finds himself driving Jason and his gang, who aim to slaughter drug couriers. In a shootout, he is saved by John, who then turns against the young driver when he finds out Billy has been seeing Lisa. John tries to kill Billy, which leads to the final twist and the revelation of Lisa's plotting.
Director/co-writer Terry Winsor has worked mainly in television, but he clearly relishes the transition to the big screen. He uses color well, and he turns the glittering lights of Southend and the beach houses of Canvey Island into fine backdrops to this gritty crime film.
The script by Winsor and his producer Jeff Pope offers nothing startlingly original -- young man in too deep, nasty gang boss, wronged and vengeful wife -- but they give their characters enough depth to pull them away from the oft-used cliches.
Although Bean does a good job as the nasty crime boss, the real stars are Kingston and Creed-Miles. Kingston has to deal with stark sexuality and brutal violence, but she instills quiet dignity and steely determination into her character.
ESSEX BOYS
Granada Films
Producer: Jeff Pope
Director: Terry Winsor
Screenwriters: Jeff Pope, Terry Winsor
Executive producer: Pippa Cross
Director of photography: John Daly
Production designer: Chris Edwards
Editor: Edward Mansell
Costume designer: Sarah Lubel
Color/stereo
Cast:
Jason Locke: Sean Bean
Lisa Locke: Alex Kingston
Billy Reynolds: Charlie Creed-Miles
John Dyke: Tom Wilkinson
Peter Chase: Larry Lamb
Henry Hobbs: Terence Rigby
Wayne Lovell: Michael McKell
Nicole: Amelia Lowdell
Running time - 102 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/26/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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