Spivs

This film is suffering a bit of an identity crisis - is it a comedy, a drama or what? There are good performances from Kate Ashfield and some of the best moments in the film are the ones with Ken Stott, his aunt (Linda Bassett) and the children - these are tender moments that are well captured. Jack Dee's character is weak and badly portrayed. There are some fun moments but overall this film doesn't gel well. Go and see this film to support British movie making, its a sweet film that portrays the wheeler dealers of east London and had it had a few more bucks in the budget, could have been tightened up somewhat to produce a gem perhaps.

What a flop. this film had promises of a "Snatch" lookalike. what a misleading cast too! a film with Paul Kaye and Jack Dee should be COMEDIC, not a load of fake drama. i thought the violence was supposed to be funny until it hit me, this movie is supposed to be serious. i found this film pretentious, and it was obvious that it had no heart whatsoever. further more, i was asking myself why anyone would cast a lead actor (Ken Stott) that annoys you so much you wanna rip your hair out. his voice alone is enough to infuriate the most patient of people, not to mention his "array" of witty remarks. i found that i really TRIED to like this film, even though i just couldn't. i think nick moran and dom monaghan are great actors, however, this film was a bad career move for them both. a POOR effort...really disappointed...

What a positiv surprise this was !

Another brit-film with humor, depth and action ! Ken Stott is brilliant and the younger crew is not bad either ! Paul Kaye has a smaller part but is very good ! Jack Dee's first apperance on the big screen...and not last, I am sure. He could probably been used more in this film ? Normally I am not to keen on "children plots " but this was well balanced and the kids was good, not overacting as is so common. Nick Moran is well established in brittish gansterfilms and this is another strong performance. Kate Ashfield is "foxy" and helps the overall strengths of the film. Linda Bassett as Auntie Vee is very solid.

Overall : very good !!!

Spivs has a believable, clever but not over complicated plot. As the film starts with the stereotypical spiv characters we seem in store for a light hearted conmen comedy, an attempt at 'The Sting' maybe. But the film becomes gradually darker and nothing you thought you could predict occurs. The desperation and anguish that overcomes the main character is brilliantly portrayed by Ken Stott, as we are transferred from the feel of 'Shooting Fish' to 'Mona Lisa'. All performances are good with Stott stealing the show but the mafia boss wasn't menacing enough and seemed slightly out of place, while his main henchman was very frightening. The direction was generally OK with some genuinely gripping scenes but some overused flashy camera-work did lose the film some momentum in places. Overall, I enjoyed the film.

well first of all i want to say that the featurette on the DVD is better than the actual film, which is why i gave it a seven. i only watched this movie because i knew dominic monaghan was in it, i think they underused his character though. i thought it was a good plot and nothing at all what i expected it to be. its quite a sad movie and doms characters only purpose, apart from 1 line, is only there to lighten the mood. it was very...British. lots of grey, if you know what i mean. but still a good bit of British film. they had a very low budget and many investors were actually given places in it as extras. so with no money and limited resources i think they did a pretty good job. byeX