The Big Ugly

British lads buy into an oil deal in an attempt to launder money. Vinny Jones and Malcom McDowell star as Neelyn and Harris, trying to make some easy cash. With Preston (Ron Perlman) as the usual sidekick. Here, he respects and bonds with the locals. Also produced by Ron Perlmen. So of course, he's going to come out looking good. It's a little spacey.. intentionally, for affect. And when Neelyn's girl goes missing, things start to get hairy. People on both sides.. the outsiders and the locals try to figure out how Junior (Brandon Sklenar) is involved. The subplot here is that Will (Nick Braun) wants his girl to quit her job so he can take care of her, but she's not having it. And then it gets silly.. when the company tries to tell Will who he can date, he fights back. Fans turning slowly... what the hell ? In lieu of a good script, write weirdness, and lots of violence. I kind of lost respect for the story here. It could have been a good murder mystery. But not so good. Written and directed by Scott Wiper. And Paul Tarantino.

Hard-Guy Vinney, soccer-player-turned-actor just about acquits himself here. The W. Virginia location looked good, as did the contributions of his screen-partners Ron Perlman, as aged London gang-leader, "Harris" , and Malcolm McDowell, red-neck oilman's-leader, "Preston". The clash of culture between limey metropolitan gangster and backwoods oil-man, with an unexpected ecological & ideological tinge was always going to be a pretty difficult one - as it proved. The real disappointment here was the Plot, which started OK enough, but really was grasping for straws a long time before the last reel of film.

No character backgrounds confusing. Just really boring. Great cast of good actors but lacking any real purpose in the story. Just awful

First, the cast is good for a cheap action B movie. Vinnie, Ron and Malcolm do an acceptable job here. Second, the script itself it's simple but well executed. Last, Vinnie here looks more human than ever. Remembered me sometimes a cheap Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino. So, overall an acceptable B-action movie from the old Vinnie.

The Big Ugly Micro Review -

First and most importantly Ron Perlman is absolutely fantastic. Vinnie Jones, Malcolm McDowell, and Bruce McGill are also all wonderful. Unfortunately, the film's positives end with its cast. The Big Ugly features a great setting with intriguing character relationships but fails to deliver on its promise of West Virginia Gangster Shakespeare.

The Big Ugly has numerous questionable production choices. Interior bar scenes are filmed against bright large front windows blowing out the shot. The editing is extremely overworked bouncing around the room without motivation other than to give the appearance that talking about events is fast paced. The action that is portrayed in this genre gangster film is generic and forgettable lacking any personality.

Perlman, Jones and McDowell elevate the quality of a film that would have been a complete disaster without their natural talent, charisma, and excitement. That's the disappointment aspect of The Big Ugly. The story idea is actually interesting with an upper class West Virgina Gangster family dispute. Unfortunately, the talent of the Big Ugly's actors are miles above the quality of the film.