Shoreditch

Being a fan of Goodnight Sweetheart I was expecting a cool sexy thriller with good characters smooth music and funny script. Sadly this film offers none of these! It really is beyond bad! I agree with the reviewer on this site who says its the worst film he's ever seen. Shoreditch is definitely one to miss I think!

In 1939, on the eve of the Second World War, jazz club owner Thomas Hinkman (Richie) conducts an ill-advised affair with club singer Butterfly (Richardson) - "Butterfly by name, scorpion by nature".

Sucked into a sordid world of gangsters, drugs and corrupt MPs, he plans his escape route from his wife and lover. Sixty years later, Hinkman's descendant Tom (Ross), his girlfriend Abigail (Tyler) and their buffoonish flatmate Chad (Bovell) uncover Hinkman's walled-up property - along with a dead body, setting the scene for a Chinatown-style mystery.

Tragic is the only word to describe this. If the 1930s dialogue is unbelievable (were expressions like "Chill out a little" really common currency in 1939?), the cast appear equally unconvinced throughout. "Oh Butterfly, I've fallen in love with you", says Richie's Hinkman, with all the conviction of a barman noting that the barrel needs changing.

Richardson's demeanour is less 'sultry' that simply drugged. Thank gawd then, for two saving graces: that Tyler is lovely to look at (for really, nothing and nobody else here is) and that it all ends so abruptly.

Words fail me. If I could have given it a zero I would! The only other movie I've seen that comes close to it is Ben Elton's Maybe Baby. Some people enjoy watching movies because they're so awful, but I defy anyone to get any form of pleasure from this rubbish! Don't even rent the DVD (if it ever survives onto DVD!).

A few reviews of 'Shoreditch' have called it a contender for the worst British movie of the decade so far, and after seeing it I'm inclined to agree. In the hands of a more skilled film-maker, this could have been a fascinating little mystery. As it is, it's a lumbering, confused and boring waste of time. I have to admit, I actually walked out of the cinema after a while, because I couldn't stand any more. I survived 2 hours of 'Gigli', but an hour of 'Shoreditch' was too much. That should give an idea what utter garbage this film is.

The story is totally uninvolving. It feels rushed, cobbled together. The characters are forgettable, the performances are pathetic. The actors look uncomfortable, and who can blame them? The script is full of some real howlers. The sets look embarassingly cheap. The film looks bland and flat, and there's no atmosphere.

As a result, 'Shoreditch' feels like an extended daytime TV soap. How anyone ever thought this trash would make its money back is beyond me.

I haven't seen this film, but curiosity has gotten the better of me. I used to like the concept of "Goodnight Sweetheart", plus I wonder can this film be so bad with an overall score of about 4? It can't be as bad as Revelation. Maybe one of the Sundays tabloids can give it away on DVD?

Its interesting that if you click the names of the users who posted the two positive reviews on here ("this is a very watchable film" and "The performance of Shane Richie was excellent") it shows that "triciacooklin" and "geoffdeane" have not commented on any other films. Would that be because they were involved with this and wanted to give it a bit of a boost? Aw, bless.