Hard Boiled Sweets

"Hard Boiled Sweets" is yet another one of those indie crime thrillers that go for a Tarantino vibe and fail miserably. It bathes in a faux- cool atmosphere, I never thought you could squeeze so many embarrassing attempts at clever one-liners into just one movie. Every line needs to be a Mark Twain quote, because what else would you do with your dialogues? Explore your characters, shed some light on their motivations? That seems difficult, let's skip that part. It's kind of a shame really, because this movie does have a very crafty plot. There are several twists you genuinely do not see coming, and usually that's good enough for me to like a movie. But the clever plot is just drowned out with one groan-inducing line after the other, so this is a tough movie to rate. I don't think I've ever been this irritated by a movie I enjoyed so much. Make of that what you will.

A boring, derivative, badly directed and amateurishly written film. The only other review on IMDb is written by a crew member's relative, and the quote on the poster was paid for - see the readers talk back section on Ain't-it-cool (www.aintitcool.com/node/53709). The real reviews have called it "the worst film of the year", which is much closer to the truth. The characters are clichéd, the plot badly-structured, it has no humour, no suspense, it's glib and cynical. The only thing to take away from this waste of time is that it's an exercise in dishonest film marketing - I guess that's to be expected, as the "director" is a trailer editor. He should stick to doing just that and let the grown-ups make films.

A great ensemble film with a strong cast and a punchy storyline. I really liked this film a lot. In the same vein as some brilliant modern British gangster classics, but freshened up - and really rich visually.

This is slick and stylish throughout with some gorgeous camera work and nice editing.

It's got a strong British theme running throughout, taking in some classic London / seaside town locations - seedy - but still with a faded charm!

The overall story follows a number of different characters, all rather shady and looking for shortcuts to improve their lot in life - at other people's expense. Everyone gets caught up in a roller-coaster of twists and turns. There is a nicely paced momentum to the story - the plot is just complicated enough to keep it gripping to the end, but not so much that you have to work hard to follow it.

The hard boiled sweets reference carries through the film and makes short work of introducing each new entrant and giving the audience a flavour of their personality by likening them to a different sweet. The characters are all very distinct and quirky and when they get together the combinations are variously funny, melancholic and dangerous.

Highly recommended

Hard Boiled Sweets rises above many other British gangland thrillers by sheer weight of the unexpected. It's filmed really well, and is well cast. Nor does it outstay it's welcome at around 80 minutes or so. It moves pretty quick, so much so, that when the surprises start to kick in, it's a very easy ride to the finish. Hard Boiled Sweets deserves to be on any recent list of competent British crime-land dramas.

What Can I say.....? Great dialogue. Great Gals. Great pacing. Just.... Great all round.

Nice mix of low rent "Sin City" set down south at the Kiss Me Quick seaside town of South End.

Lot's going on to keep you amused and dialogue that is up there with Crime Noir writers like Leonard and Ellroy - it would give Tarantino a run for his money. Let me tell you that, My Son....

Check it out if you liked Lock Stock. Same pacing and humour.

Not sure why it is below most people's radar on IMDb.

But I loved it.