To Be Someone

Ok, I admit it, as an old scooter riding mod I was suckered into buying the DVD. Within 5 minutes of watching it I regretted that decision. Despite the obvious potential of having a number of the Quadrophenia cast this film is possibly the worst film I have ever seen. And that includes the 10 minutes of "the sex lives of the potato men' starring Johnny Vegas.

Nothing to do with the mod or scootering scene, just a shameless attempt to cash in on the history of Quadrophenia with a 'comedy caper' that, simply, stinks.

Shame on everyone connected with this film.

I guess Ray Burdis must have been a fan of Quadrophenia, Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino. I am for sure, but I can't say I'm a fan of To Be Someone. The thing this movie has in common with the mod classic Quadrophenia is Lambretta scooters, five actors that were in both movies, and that's about it. So basically nothing. Ray Burdis wanted to make something clever à la Guy Ritchie but he failed. There are a few decent scenes but the vast majority of the the rest of the movie is just bad. The soundtrack was good, at least that was enjoyable to listen to. The acting on the other hand wasn't great at all. There are clearly actors that just belong in mediocre soaps and nothing else. I wanted to like this movie more, but besides watching some beautiful scooters there wasn't anything else to be thrilled about.

Bit disappointed with this.. was quite looking forward to the storyline, and parts of it added up, but mad Mike was just utterly weird from the get go, definitely "mad", and nice to see some old faces (and lesley ash's new face).. funny in parts, and utter rubbish in others..

The car scenes looked far too fake. They left sharp Steve in the crypt and he suddenly turned up later on. And the ending, could have been far better explained and just felt threw together and that'll do.. all the build up for about a 5 minute finish.. shame.. could have been quite good, just needed a good ending and it spoilt it..

I remember this being touted as some sort of sequel to Quadrophenia.

It is, of course, nothing of the sort, what it is is a third rate wannabe Guy Ritchie gangster movie with some scooters thrown in.

Is it still worth watching though?

No, it's utter, utter drivel and genuinely best avoided.

Firstly, to be someone, has nothing to to with Quadrophenia. The book, from which it gets its title, is a sequel to the famous Who film, but the movie (while using some of the actors) is not connected in any way, and shares none of the characters.

They storyline follows the main character, Danny (Sam Gittins), who gets in some trouble with Gangsters. He gets together his friends in a plan to stitch up the criminal element that threatens his family.

Overall, the movie is pretty lightweight. None of the drama is serious enough to provide any threat to the characters. The plot is pretty unbeleivable, and some of the characters are pretty thin.

That said, for a lightweight gangster film, with mods and scooters, it was ok. Its sort of interesting to see people like Toyah Wilcox and Leslie Ash , though their roles are fairly short. There's some pretty average attempts at humour, and the films budget is stretched at times, though its not cheap looking and the production values aren't too bad. The film is shot well with some good band scenes and great shots of scooters. There is some pretty over the top product placement, to the point where the film at times looks it has commercials inserted into it... though cheekily, its actually referenced in the film.

Kudos to Sam Gittins who was actually really decent in his role... almost channelling a touch of Michael Caine - and definitely lifted the film. The soundtrack by the band featured in the film, The Ks is great as well.

Definitely watchable for those into scooters, and people who like Guy Ritchies work (though its not anything that should worry him as king of the English gangster genre.

6/10.