The Firm

Different from the similarly-entitled Tom Cruise vehicle in much the same way that a punch in the head is different from a solicitor's letter, this is where the late great Alan Clarke - Britain's best TV director and perhaps the best British director of the 70s and 80s - finally got to work with Gary Oldman. Oldman is Bex, leader of a gang of football hooligans. His crew go head-to-head with another bunch of guys from Birmingham. That's pretty much the story.

The insight, for which respect must be paid to screenwriter Al Ashton, is that these guys aren't poor white trash but professional men. Bex is an estate agent and when we first meet him he is selling a house to a couple by admitting to them frankly that it's rubbish. He shows them in and says "If this house don't sell itself I'm a monkey's uncle." Then he walks away down the path and, for a moment, scratches his armpits and gibbers like a chimp - an inspired bit of improv from Oldman.

This was Oldman before he got into his period of being an American Ham - sharp, keenly observational and immensely likeable even though the character he's playing is a complete scumbag. There's a lot of violence, and violence in a Clarke film isn't a rowdy punchup, it's Stanley knives in the face and iron bars in the groin. A gun gets used towards the end, which I personally found a bit unrealistic.

One of the most remarkable things about this movie is that at no point do you actually see a football. These guys aren't football fans, they're in it for the fighting. They were the energies that Margaret Thatcher unleashed and then affected to deplore. Guys like Bexy own much of Britain now.

When Oldman got tired of acting in bad American cop thrillers, he showed what he'd learned from Clarke by making Nil By Mouth. The boy done good. The Firm was Clarke's last film; a year later he was dead from cancer. Don't miss it.

Alan Clarke has cemented his reputation as a gritty realist director through three successful films. These are " Scum ", " Made in Britain " and " The Firm ". These are his most memorable as they were the launch pads for three of Britain's greatest actors. Ray Winestone as Carlin in " Scum ", Tim Roth as Trevor in " Made in Britain " & Gary Oldman as Bex in " The Firm ". All these films have one thing in common. They do not let up for anything or anyone when it comes to Violence, Racism and anti-social beliefs.

The Firm centers around the I.C.C (Inner City Crew) firm and their leader and top boy Bex. Bex is a well to do estate agent who has a nice motor, a lovely home and wife and child. Bex's position is firmly established in their first meeting with two other rival firms. Bex has an vision of a united firm to go to the German European Cup and it is he that should lead it. However he must deal with the leaders of the other firms before he can lead an united front abroad.

We see the I.C.C travel to rival turf and stake their claim but this is not before a disaster happens. The world of Football thuggery is dealt with carefully by showing us Bex as a man that craves the buzz that he is top boy. He is not content with being the leader of his own firm he wants more and more. It appears he has everything else a good job, car and a loving wife however as his obsession with being the over all top boy that we are introduced to the cracks that are appearing in his marriage due to his violent past time.

This film is excellent in it's character portrayal and it does show a very different Gary Oldman character. Bex at the out set comes across as a typical nice bloke who works hard and has a good sense of humor but at the end of the film you are weary that you would never cross him due to his ferocious temper. There is one great scene when Bex's wife confronts him and asks when is he going to give up this lifestyle and he replies " I need the Buzz ". What can I say this really does sum up the whole idea of grown males going around knocking seven shades out of one another.

My only complaint is that the film was not longer. My reasons for watching this film is because of the new films that are being made about football violence (The Football Factory, The Yank)I wanted to see a film that was made during the time that football violence was in it's prime in Great Britain and Europe. I was also thrilled that there was no mention of any football teams as it showed exactly what these thugs enjoyed doing and that is slapping people. This point is observed by one of Bex's crew at a meeting.

If it is ever on the T.V. watch it, or buy the D.V.D it will not disappoint.

Even though this tale of Grown-Up Gang Members is ugly, violent, and at times, shocking, nothing is more startling about it, than yet another brilliant performance by Gary Oldman.

Most people who follow Gary Oldman's works, will know that this is a role very far from the real Gary. Yet, as usual, he puts his entire being into convincing us that he is, in fact, a semi-psychotic with a passion for physical violence.

I recommend the film ONLY to SERIOUS Oldman-fans. Others will probably not like the material, nor the look of this dark film.

His last masterpiece. Alan Clarke of Scum and Made in Britain fame tackles the subject of football hooliganism deftly and precisely exposing the unique structures of the hooligans while utterly scornful of it. If Made in Britain is Clarke's finest and Scum is Clarke's most famous, this has to be his most underrated. totally convincing, Clarke shows a true understanding of both his subject and of the medium in general. using the documentary style to a devastated effect, the film has a feeling of utter truth, Gary Oldman in particular conveys that as an actor giving an extraordinary performance of raw power as the chief hooligan. Sadly people regard The Firm only as a Tom Cruise vehicle where in fact hidden away is something far more powerful, far more exciting and far more real, as a result it seems that the film conveys more about the brutality of hooliganism than even news reports do as reports tends to cater for an audience, this obviously doesn't and is hard as nails and totally uncompromising.This knocks the similar I.D into a cocked hat. Undoubtedly one of the finest British films of the 80's. this is simply a must see and finally when Clarke died less than two years later, England lost one of it's finest, more realistic filmmakers.

... because the culture of 'hooliganism' has moved on since this was made. It certainly hasn't gone away, but the organisation of such things is tighter these days with the aid of technology like the Internet. Hopefully these developments will be addressed in upcoming fare like "The Football Factory".

So the 'values and ideals' shown in this film are different because it's a bygone age. Less materialism and more violence exists EVERYWHERE these days, so showing it creeping into suburbia isn't necessarily as shocking now as perhaps it was when viewed at the time. There are some nice performances here though from a wealth of British acting talent who went on to bigger things, and Oldman keeps you watching throughout as only he can; holding the screen with his intense passion. Disappointingly, though, the scenes which are most effective are often undercut by what follows, with the pace never quite finding itself even at a short 67mins. The ending can similarly be seen as a damp squib, but the one or two powerful moments in getting there make this a worthwhile experience for fans of some of the actors.