The Debt Collector
- 1999
- 1h 49m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
Edinburgh cop Gary Keltie pursues violent 1970s debt collector Nickie Dryden, seeking revenge for his brutal crimes against locals. Their conflict escalates into a final violent confrontatio... Read allEdinburgh cop Gary Keltie pursues violent 1970s debt collector Nickie Dryden, seeking revenge for his brutal crimes against locals. Their conflict escalates into a final violent confrontation on the city streets.Edinburgh cop Gary Keltie pursues violent 1970s debt collector Nickie Dryden, seeking revenge for his brutal crimes against locals. Their conflict escalates into a final violent confrontation on the city streets.
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
Shauna Macdonald
- Catriona
- (as Shauna MacDonald)
Julie Wilson Nimmo
- Young Girl
- (as Julie Wilson-Nimmo)
Stephen Duguid
- Kev
- (as Steven Duguid)
Matt Costello
- Policeman
- (as Matt Costelloe)
Stuart Sinclair Blyth
- Policeman
- (as Stuart Blyth)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
This was a good film, with excellent performances. Billy Connolly adds yet another great performance to his growing list of acting achievements. Violent movie, but very realistic, at points in the movie we had sympathies for main male characters, however that does not last until the end of the film, by which time we came to despise them both.
Very much reminded me of the Jimmy Boyle story, for those of you who know of & about him, with Connolly performing that role, indeed I believe he spoke with Boyle prior to filming.
Not a good advert for Edinburgh though!
Very much reminded me of the Jimmy Boyle story, for those of you who know of & about him, with Connolly performing that role, indeed I believe he spoke with Boyle prior to filming.
Not a good advert for Edinburgh though!
Ken Stott who is the policeman who just keeps on hounding Billy Connolly an ex-con, even after the latter has served his sentence, puts in a really brilliant performance. Francesca Annis as Connolly's wife is very good as well. Well paced and riveting throughout this film is well worth seeing when one is sick of all the bang-wham of the big American movies.
An excellent film, though what a bleak view of human nature. Connolly's character is trying to live a good life and the psychotic policeman is determined that it won't happen.
Real Shakespearian tragedy, the wilful misunderstanding of the others characters motives by virtually everyone in the film made the outcome inevitable. The fight in Edinburgh Castle was a wee bit on the unbelievable side, but definitely fitted into the dramatic tradition.
At the end you were left wondering who had actually benefited from the whole sordid mess?
Real Shakespearian tragedy, the wilful misunderstanding of the others characters motives by virtually everyone in the film made the outcome inevitable. The fight in Edinburgh Castle was a wee bit on the unbelievable side, but definitely fitted into the dramatic tradition.
At the end you were left wondering who had actually benefited from the whole sordid mess?
This a gritty , violent movie that i found quite hard to watch. Not because of the gritty nature of the film but because it was extremely depressing , so much so it spoilt the film . The film is about a ex debt collector(Billy Connolly) who has done his time for murder and the Policeman (Kenn Stott) who sent him down , who cannot still find it in himself to forgive him for the terrible things he did even though he was a changed man. I found it hard to understand why the Cop took it so personally . The language is about as blue as i have ever heard in a film and the violence is pretty bad too. One thing is for sure , the scottish tourist board will not be using this film to promote their capital city! Check out the actor who plays flipper, he looks like he fell out of the ugly tree hitting every branch on the way down. 6 out of 10.
I really enjoyed this movie. The acting was excellent throughout and the storyline gritty and lifelike. This is life at the raw end of the spectrum. The violence was visceral and essential to the plot. Some good sights of Edinburgh and the iconic Forth Rail Bridge.
A tale of a violent man struggling to shake off his past, though it seems far behind him. When a contemporary from that past makes it all the more difficult to forget the haunting truth of 'another' life. Nick Dryden ,convicted gangster and man of violence emerges from prison a respected sculptor and marries a middle class journalist.
Francesca Annis for me took the acting honours though all the male roles were almost equally well performed.Stott and Connolly both excel.
As someone said already 'a debt well worth collecting', see it soon if you haven't already
A tale of a violent man struggling to shake off his past, though it seems far behind him. When a contemporary from that past makes it all the more difficult to forget the haunting truth of 'another' life. Nick Dryden ,convicted gangster and man of violence emerges from prison a respected sculptor and marries a middle class journalist.
Francesca Annis for me took the acting honours though all the male roles were almost equally well performed.Stott and Connolly both excel.
As someone said already 'a debt well worth collecting', see it soon if you haven't already
Did you know
- TriviaAs a condition of funding from the Glasgow Film Fund, Glasgow locations stand in for most of the Edinburgh settings.
- Quotes
Val Dryden: Keltie came to the house today.
Nickie Dryden: That cunt came to the hoose?
- ConnectionsReferences Braveheart (1995)
- How long is The Debt Collector?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime
- 1h 49m(109 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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