Petits meurtres entre amis

Danny Boyle seemed like he was destined for directorial greatness before the surprise success of "Trainspotting" got to his head. His first two pictures, however, are wonderful. "Shallow Grave" is one of the best modern thrillers I have seen in a long time.

The story centers around three British roommates who are trying to rent the empty room in their flat out to another person. When they finally do find a man to rent the flat out to, he dies in his sleep, leaving behind a briefcase full of a whole lot of money. What to do?

Much like "Trainspotting" of a few years later, "Shallow Grave" has very dark comical undertones to it. Unlike "Trainspotting" however, it is a much more serious film. Like Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan" of four years later, it explores a moral dilemma between three friends on what to in a situation when you find a lot of money that does not belong to you. Do you compromise your morals for the money or do you do the right thing? One is never quite sure how the story will turn out and as you approach the ending of the film, you are never quite sure which one of the three friends is more sinister than the next, which makes the twists in the last part of the film such a darkly hilarious and chilling delight.

Films like "Shallow Grave" are exactly what independent filmmaking is all about. It's a smart, sleek and stylish film made on a small budget, driven by a cleaver story and interesting characters. Ewan McGregor and Christopher Eccleston both give great performances in this film. `Shallow Grave' is miles better than any thriller Hollywood has come up with in the last 10-15 years (if not longer). I give it an 8 out of 10.

See, there's these three little piggies (Ewan McGregor, Kerry Fox and Christopher Eccleston) who live together as flatmates in Glasgow. The one thing that ties them together more than the genial contempt they have for one another, is the DOUBLE amount of contempt they have for everyone else. To take in extra rent money, they decide to let a spare room in their place. After having a lot of fun at the expense of many 'unsuitable' candidates, they decide to award the spot to a very dodgy looking character named Hugo, (Keith Allen), who has a shady demeanor and a rather large suitcase.

This situation is ripe for betrayal, deceit, coercion and oh, let's not leave out murder, shall we? It's dynamite with an unlit fuse, just missing a match. And that 'match' is finally struck when the three roommates find a nude Hugo dead the next morning in his room, and that in his mysterious suitcase is more cash than the three of them combined will make in a year.

Anybody hear a sizzling noise in the background? That's nothing. The explosion is coming, and it is a DOOZY! Director Danny Boyle and writer John Hodge certainly know their noir thrillers, and they skilfully weave the strands of this twisted story together like a Hitchcock chamber piece, filtered through the gimlet-eyed gaze of the Coen Brothers. With a Glaswegan accent, of course.

The acting is top notch, especially Ewan in his first major movie role. The realistic outcome of each nerve-wracking situation ratchets up the suspense and the tension without a single false note, as the 'straw' friendships of these three not-so-likable characters goes up in a puff of spontaneous combustion...all for, as the O'Jays put it so aptly, "the love of money."

And speaking of classic songs, a great director knows how to infuse a scene with just the right touch of irony, comedy or even downright horror, such as what Quentin Tarantino did with the confectionery pop standard from Stealer's Wheel, "Stuck In The Middle With You." I could tell from the word 'go' that Danny Boyle would be one artist to watch, just through the way he took a gooey retro classic like Andy Williams' "Happy Heart," and infused it with chillingly fitting gallows humor for GRAVE'S jaw-dropping ending, that will stay with you long after you've seen it...even after the second or third time! No matter how many times I watch it, it still hits me like a ton of...well, you know...

Highly recommended, with great scoring work from artists like Simon Boswell, Leftfield and Tomandandy.

Alex, David and Juliet share a flat together and are looking for a new flat mate to help fill the flat out. They see various applicants who don't fit until they meet the mysterious Hugo who is `interesting' and takes the room. Almost a week goes by and he doesn't come out of his room once, so they break down Hugo's door to find him dead with a suitcase full of money. To keep the money, they agree to destroy Hugo's body and draw straws to see who does the cutting. David ends up doing the deed but it affects him badly and he becomes increasingly erratic and paranoid. Meanwhile two criminals are dredging the underworld looking for the money.

Any film that can pose a moral question that stays with the audience is off to a good start and needs to build on it. That is the case here with the `would you keep the money' question - the answer being `yes' in terms of the characters here. The plot then sees the greed do what greed do best - feed paranoia and divisions between the characters. It's a theme that has been done before but is still well done here. The plot has weaknesses in logic and flow - David's paranoia doesn't totally go the way that seems most likely, rather the way that the film requires. Also the film doesn't build good characters. However what it does do well is turn up tension and drama very well - as the net closes and the characters start to turn on each other.

This is where the comparatively short running time helps - it keeps the whole thing from being onscreen too long to be analysed to death while you are watching it. I didn't question the weaknesses because I was caught up in the story. It has a good pace on it although it can't keep up the speed it set with it's stylish opening credits (which have been impersonated so often since). The final act is a fitting denouncement and, like I said, even if some of it doesn't totally scan the film moves along fast enough to cover it.

Despite the lack of really developed characters, the cast do really good jobs on the whole. McGregor is great - this and Trainspotting show how great it can be, just makes it harder to see him looking miserable in the Star Wars films. Fox is also very good, although she is a lot subtler than McGregor. However it is Eccleston who steals the film, even if he is required to go further than he should have in his downward spiral; contrast his character at the start and the end of the film, he did very well to gradually go from one to the other convincingly. The support cast is made up of familiar faces who don't really do that much - McCredie, Stott, Allen and Mullan.

Overall this is not without it's flaws but it works as a tight little moral thriller that is really enjoyable while watching it. And the ending will have you in the pub or on the message boards talking about it (in a good way).

It's well performed with actors who would go onto greater things. The plot is pretty thin, insomuch as it has one. The most interesting and fascinating elements come through post viewing reflection, to consider what you would have done under these circumstances. The director is asking you to accept and believe the events that took place are plausible - are they? Or are they so implausible that the story becomes fantasy? If it's fantasy it's valueless, passing ninety minutes of your time and soon to be forgotten. If you can connect on a real world level then maybe you'll learn something about yourself you didn't know already - or at least choose to seldom acknowledge. Cinema is there to make you think and connect with the world in a different way and this film does just that for the most part.

Juliet Miller (Kerry Fox), David Stephens (Christopher Eccleston), and Alex Law (Ewan McGregor) are three flatmates looking for someone to rent the fourth room. They are all sarcastic, sharp-tongued, and generally mean-spirited. They agree on the charismatic Hugo (Keith Allen) but don't know his criminal activities. When they discover his dead body, they also find a suitcase full of money.

Before Danny Boyle's breakthrough movie 'Trainspotting', this is his first big screen debut. The leads are not likable. They are all unlikeable selfish untrustworthy jerks. It's dark. It has three amazing performances. And it has a great Hitchcockian style. It is sharp and brilliant. It has some funny moments especially as they skewer the roommate interviews. It builds up to great tension. It's just good dark fun.