Yardie

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 We don't have any movies or historical reference material which provides insight into the journey Jamaican expats made and what it was like to settle iinto the Uk during the 70s and 80s.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

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.

I was lucky enough to go to a preview screening and Q&A with Idris Elba where he said to give it glowing reviews if we loved it and just mention his mum's carpet (which makes an appearance in the film) if we didn't. Unfortunately this film did not live up to all I'd hoped. The story itself is sound and would make a decent action movie plot but Idris seems to have tried to make something more gritty which falls flat for me. The broad accents slip on occasions sometimes intentionally and there is some stereotyping too. It's a story of murder, revenge, drugs and Jamaican gang warfare with a reggae soundtrack which may sell better than the movie. I'm sure having Idris Elba's name attached will help opening weekend ticket sales but I wouldn't be surprised if this is on digital download on your TV screen in a month or two.

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.

My girlfriend selected it, because of Idris. I hesitated when I saw IMDb rating. So we watched it and it was REALLY good. You need to have some knowledge and appreciation for that community and that time in history, so you can immerse yourself into the story.

It's not like "the best movie of all times", it's a really engaging movie. Some commenters are complaining about cliches, and looking back I suppose there are some. But they didn't jump out at me and make me cringe while I was watching, which means that the story and the film-making were successful. Glad I got to see it. Well done, Mr. Elba!