westhambill

I was expecting a follow on from Essex Boys or Bonded by Blood but was intrigued to see Bill Murrey telling a story about the new young breed of gangsters. The young lads seemed arrogant and loud, no respect and was surprised that being drug dealers,they had no "muscle" to back them up when it got on top. The acting was a bit wooden after the earlier excitement of the Bank robbery. I wanted more action from their opposition and couldn't believe the copper was so bent? As the film progressed i actually wanted them to die. Good twist in the end but i think i will stick with Rise of the Footsoldier as my favourite gangster/ Hooligan film.

Brothers Lucky and Raphael have always lived on the wrong side of the law. When a 'job' goes very wrong and Lucky finds himself in debt to local heavies, Sebastian and Kramer, he is forced to join his wayward brother on the biggest heist of their careers.

While Raphael concocts a plan to rob the casino of the most powerful crime-lord in town, Mr Zigic, and enlists the help of Zigic's own unwitting nephew Niko and employee Eli, Lucky is distracted by the girl of his dreams, femme fatale Bridgett, who may not be all that she seems.

With betrayals and twists of fate, it seems everyone has an ulterior motive. The question is who, can the brothers trust on the most important night of their lives? Very impressed with the acting.

A good twist to the story at the end as well.

Afer reading this i thought i would have a look. Very good acting and not too Hollywood.

Look forward to getting this on DVD, worth another look.

Ray Burdis has been an entertaining talent to British audiences since the 1970's others may remember him from spoof cop series 'Operation Good Guys' or even the excellent film 'Love, Honor and obey'; either way he also directs and writes. This is his take on the auto biography of Paul Ferris the notorious gangster from Glasgow. Ferris is played by Martin Compston ('Sweet Sixteen', 'Sister' and 'Strippers vs Werewolves' - cant win em all) and as ever he really delivers.

The film takes us back to Ferris' early days and the Glasgow of the 1970's when he was picked on by the Welshes for supporting the wrong team and as a result he claimed he developed debilitating psoriasis (in his book). His father tells him to be a lion and never a lamb and after being pushed too far he becomes just like them. Only a lot more violent. Thus begins his life of crime and violence.

He gets sent to a detention centre and after a few more run ins at the age of just nineteen the local heavy Arthur Thompson ( locally called 'The Godfather') takes him on as an 'enforcer' and he takes to it like a duck to water, quite a lot of 'water' to be honest. Thompson is played by Patrick Bergin who always does great character roles and never really gets the recognition he deserves, still I digress. This then takes us on a spiral of violence that ultimately has to get out of control for all concerned.

So is it any good? Well it depends on the knowledge of the viewer; as a film it is ruddy good but as a piece of fact based historical drama then there are many who say it about as accurate as that American film that found the enigma machine on a U Boat. The accents go from brilliant Glaswegian to a bit Edinburghish, which I am fine with and at least they are all Scottish. Portraying Ferris as a loving family man who was pushed into a life of crime is also a bit of a stretch, but that is following his book so it was always going to be a bit along the lines of 'I'm not a complete monster' as with the Krays brothers people always said 'they weren't all bad, they loved their mum'., well not much in the outstanding good will department, but it is a start. However I judged this as a film and I thought it was extremely good but not a keeper hence my rating but I wish Ray Burdis all the best in his next venture and it is good to see a film that