Sugarhouse

I saw this at a preview screening... it was a great atmosphere! Ashley Walters really impresses, are those really his teeth? He looks like he's been living in a sewer for a couple of years! He's trying to sell this gun to middle-class Steve Mackintosh, who has found himself for the first time on the wrong side of town as Walters takes him to his home- an abandoned old warehouse. Andy Serkis plays Hoodwink, who's this bloomin scary Ulster man who's somehow found himself on the local estate with his pregnant girlfriend and now runs it, oh and he's the original owner of this gun and he's not too happy that it's gone missing!

A special mention i think should go to Hoodwink's three henchmen/stooges. They haven't had much of a chance of being mentioned in the build-up to this film, especially when you have Walters, Mackintosh and Serkis starring, but as you will see they turn in really good performances that added to the film no end.

This is a side of the capital that is hardly ever shown in films and it was interesting to see, definitely an intention of the makers to juxtapose this ragged side of London with the brand spanking new (one shot pans up from the estate to a view of Canary Wharf that's just right next to it). The film's also quite bloody, but also had the audience roaring with laughter at some points! The characters were very well constructed and there are very good free-flowing performances by all the actors (director was previously an actor as well i think, so just let them get on with it)... well worth going to see.

Filmed on a relative microbudget, I was surprised this film was chosen by Slingshot as their first project, as the script really doesn't hold water and some clumsy dialogue really grates on the nerves.

As far as British films go I suppose it could have been a lot worse, and while I really didn't enjoy it the performances pull it through, right before it gets plain silly. In terms of the negative feedback that it's racked up here, most I agree with, however complaining that this film is awful because it's "like watching a play" is one of the most idiotic comments I've ever read, you're really telling us more about yourself then the film! It was based on a play which is usually no bad thing (have a look at The Big Kahuna for a good example of a one-set movie)

Sugarhouse is the story of a middle class man trying to buy a firearm in the UK, and all the things that go wrong with that transaction, from the crackhead who is selling it to him, to the psychotic drug dealer who owns the gun, to the reasons he wants the gun in the first place.

This isn't a witty and convoluted Guy Ritchie gangster film, these characters are low-level criminals engaging in their day to day enterprises with the addition of a middle-class gun buyer throwing everything out of kilter.

Andy Serkis played the psychotic drug dealer with his usual flair, you could almost smell the rage he was putting off. The other actors did a fine job of representing their characters, production values were high, dialog was good.

This is an above average crime drama, with a lot of dialog and some action thrown in during the more intense moments. My American ear had some trouble with the accents, but in general it's easy to understand what's going on and why.

The one thing you can say about this film was that the performances were all spot on...The cinematography was great as well. Also worth noticing that despite the mileu they didn't over-egg it with some crazy Gangsta Rap soundtrack. The screenplay could have been a bit better and sometimes you felt the same ground was being covered in dialogue. Sometimes motivation was questionable - but perhaps this was the point - these people were not exactly -stable....I believe it was adapted from a play & there were some good moments of humour - so all in all a good British film...although quite a hard film to watch & like - all the swearing & seediness...so definitely not one of the Merchant Ivory school.

Having seen the play Collision at The Old Red Lion some years ago I was interested and exited to see this film version of one of the best contemporary bits of theatre I have seen in recent years. Where the play was taut, tense, real, funny and ultimately moving the film is flabby, hard to follow and ultimately unbelievable.

The film never makes its mind up if it is a serious drama or an urban caper. Consequently it feels unbalanced. The performances echo this; ranging from 'real' to totally cartoon like. Somehow the simple plot ends up being hard to follow and the tension of the three way confrontation is totally lost.

The play made you laugh but at the same time kept you on the edge of your seat - however the film has no humour at all. Where did all that wonderful, very funny and also poignant dialogue between the crack head and the middle class character that was in the play go to?

Perhaps in the hands of a Ken Loach this film would have worked better than it does. As it stands it feels like a total let down of what it could have been.

What a shame.