Whole Lotta Sole

"We were robbed, he got the brown bag. Yes, that brown bag." Jimbo is a young father who has a gambling problem. When he gets in deep to a local mob boss he has one choice. Pay him back or give him his son. With his back against the wall he decides to rob a fish market, but for a non-criminal things don't always go right. This first and foremost is a really funny comedy. Just seeing the events unfold on its own is really funny and entertaining to watch but when mixed with the dialog it makes it that much more fun to watch. This movie combines the best of British crime movies with American comedy. While this movie won't win any awards it is one of the most entertaining movies that I have seen in a while and I recommend this. The type of movie you can just put in and not really have to think about, just watch and enjoy. I liked it. Overall, very entertaining and very much worth seeing. I give it a B+.

This film is an attempt to make a British crime comedy for an American audience. It gets off to a promising start (if we disregard the wholly unnecessary exposition explaining why Brendan Fraser's character left the United States). The three main story lines are introduced and succeed in raising interest in the protagonists, but as more and more superfluous side characters are drawn into it, the plot starts to unravel. Yaya Dacosta turns into a cardboard cutout placed in the scenes to present stock reactions in the background. What little chemistry existed between her and Fraser evaporates in the silliness of what are supposed to be plot twists. Fraser and McCann had no spark to begin with. Really, this film is carried between Colm Meaney and Michael Legge.

Despite the low rating, I watched this because the storyline sounded interesting. Northern Ireland, crime, SAS...and a comedy. The plot is simple and you can work out most of what happens during the film. However, the script is entertaining, with a few laugh out loud lines. Colm Meaney plays his usual role, a dry, cynical detective. He has some of the better lines and generally carries the film. Brendan Fraser is fine but his role could have been developed further. Without giving things away, his background could have had more of an impact. He probably deserved to have more funny lines as well. Negatives - quite why the SAS are there I don't know. This could have been made into more of a story. Either make them contribute to the organised chaos, (making things worse or better, I don't mind), or omit them from the film entirely. This is probably more a British film than one for everybody. Perhaps the review which criticises the film is more the latter. I would give this about a 7/ 7.5 to be honest, watchable, enjoyable but not great.

If there's one actor that barely anyone hears about anymore it's actor Brendan Fraser. What now seems eons ago, Fraser was the top man after the hit action movie The Mummy (1999) was released. Not only did it showcase Fraser as a worthy candidate for action movies but it also made him very popular. Then about a decade later, he dropped off the face of the earth. As stated in his filmography, he's still making movies but for the most part it's voice work or live action films but with very limited releases. It's sad because Fraser is a very talented actor. Making things even more melodramatic is this small budget thriller that has trouble keeping everything together.

The story is about a struggling father (Martin McCann) who is looking to pay back a crime boss who lent him money. And like most situations that end up like this, they can't make the payment and are threatened by the boss to pay up or suffer dire consequences. In this case, the threat is the boss taking his son away. This particular plot isn't anything new but it works. And this movie would work out totally fine if that's the only plot that it stuck to. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Terry George the director and writer, along with Thomas Gallagher (another writer who only has one other credit) included a number of other subplots that were not necessary to have. And it's not like Terry George is a bad director, he also headed Hotel Rwanda (2004) which many people favor.

But it's the writing that really takes away the possibilities to this movie. Along with the crime boss plot, there's a subplot about a character being a father and not knowing about it (and in the end that isn't clearly resolved), a character has relations to a mob and tries to flee from their troubles (and that isn't clearly resolved either), and there's also subplot dealing with having to keep a secret from a person they care about. It's just too many stories in one situation and this makes this hour and a half minute thriller feel longer than it's supposed to be. What may confuse viewers though is the genre that this movie is putting itself into.

Here, it is labeled as a comedy and drama. But after viewing it, the audience may consider it more of a thriller and drama. There are a couple of scenes that may have people chuckle but it's questionable whether those moments were intentional or not. I didn't laugh very often because there didn't seem to be anything too funny to laugh at. I can certainly look back and recall the scenes that were supposed to be funny but they didn't carry much charm to them to make the audience laugh. They were very weak attempts. There was definitely drama though, because of all the subplots. And although the subplots were jumbled together, the story line did have some interesting character development. Of course, the effectiveness dropped when the subplots weren't resolved however. The movie may also feel long because the title accurately portrays the majority of the running time. The conflict is presented as a stand off hostage situation.

With this kept in mind, it will be obvious to viewers that Mr. Fraser will not be doing much of his action work he did in the past. The main plot doesn't even focus on him which is kind of sad considering he is what would grab people to see this film. As for acting goes, it's alright. Fraser does his best but again because he's not the character of main focus, the audience may feel cheated leaving a disappointed feeling. What was different to experience though was the slew of Irish actors in the cast. Colm Meaney (Law Abiding Citizen (2009) as the detective did have some charm. Also actors Martin McCann (Clash of the Titans (2010)) and David O'Hara (Hotel Rwanda (2004)) were interesting to listen too as well. Even Yaya DeCosta (a Siren from Tron: Legacy (2010)) gave a unique performance as an African refugee.

Every other element to the story was decent too. Because the setting takes place in Ireland, it's nice to see a different set of scenery than always in New York or some other American city. That's credit to Mr. Des Whelan. He also works the camera for many other films recently such as Thor: The Dark World (2013) and The Expendables 2 (2012). Foy Vance's musical composition to the film was OK. Nothing that stands out, considering much of the time it was absent or replaced by what seemed to be Irish folk music. This seemed out of place for the scenes they were inserted into. But there were also some dramatic scenes that did work with his music. That's why my opinion is on the fence for his score. Overall, it's watchable but it can feel cluttered.

Although it includes Fraser in the cast list, his presence feels wasted, even though all the actors have less star power. Along with a script stuffed with numerous subplots, the film may feel longer than it's supposed to.

About ten minutes into this film l, like others before me l am sure found myself making an association with Guy Ritchie's seminal Brit crim films. That is no bad thing. However instead of looking for more parallels, l was instead transported into other areas by the film, which for all its comic elements, manages to hit a number of other bases as well. Director Terry George, while giving a nod to Lock, Stock etc, in passing decided to move into other, unexplored territory. So while there is some comedy, there is also drama and even suspense in places. The plot in places may seem too far fetched for some, but it is all tied together fairly neatly. There are also some references to 'the troubles' and even a family that is divided between Protestant and Catholic. Some critics will point out that the film is making light of a serious subject but anyone who has seen Four Lions will know that a little laughter in such situations can go a long way to relieving the tension. Brendon Fraser gives a solid performance as an American hiding out from a domestic disaster that has mob implications. The characters he finds himself among are a diverse group, which shows how cosmopolitan many European cities have become over the last twenty years. Lurking in the background is of course a menacing gangster with sinister intentions, a hapless victim or two and a crusty copper played with great aplomb by Colm Meaney, who steals most scenes. There are a couple of cases of mistaken identity that help add a layer or two of confusion, some cardboard cutout characters, plenty of incompetence and lots of differing family values. After about ten minutes l stopped trying to make associations with other films and simply settled back to enjoy this engaging little caper.