Wasteland

My byline up there pretty much sums it up. It an intriguing story, set in motion by a highly resourceful and intelligent lead, to rob a Men's Club, home to illicit drug funds squirrelled away there by the evil villein, whom has greatly wronged the lead. The soundtrack had good uplifting late 90s style rock, plenty of montage (which worked a treat), and the story was told using an easy to follow, and fresh, flashback technique. All the actors gave outstanding performances, working with a fast and often emotional script. It a well written, well put together movie, where all aspects are playing their part to perfection. Yes, there is a little confusion of understanding when, toward the latter half, details are delivered at a probably too quick a clip. But that doesn't dilute one's anticipation and enjoyment. Outstanding, and original, British drama.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Harvey (Luke Treadaway) is a bright boy with his head screwed on, who has just been released from prison after being framed for drug dealing by the villainous Roper (Neil Maskell), who was none too pleased that Harvey got shacked up with his ex, Nicola (Vanessa Kirby.) But now he finds himself in an interview room with D.I. West (Timothy Spall), relaying the tale of how he and his friends planned to break in to a run down working men's club and steal Roper's ill-gotten gains from a secure safe located in there, only for things not to work out quite how they seemed.

Something gave me the impression on first glance that this little seen, independent crime flick was set south side, expecting a typical smattering of the usual cockney lingo and rhyming slang, only to get a surprise and find it set north of the border, which allowed for no such stereotypes. And so this debut feature length production from director Rowan Athale seeks desperately to break the typical conventions of the genre, a modest budget offering with aspirations above it's station, which despite being a little messy in it's execution and possibly even a little over ambitious, is still impressively intelligent and complex, and could actually stand to a second viewing just to make sense of it all.

Coming from the plot point of two men talking in a room, it's a dialogue driven film, and it's striving for a Tarantino style of execution and delivery, which it manages with a sense of fluency and eloquence. It's intelligent and well written, but not exactly a realistic depiction of how nefarious types of this background and age group would probably speak. At points it all feels a bit heavy and over bearing, and is a little disconcerting as a result. Still, you can't fault it's ambition, and it's carried out with aplomb by lead stars Treadaway, Maskell and veteran Spall.

While it can't help but project a messy, convoluted sort of feel, it's lying in the gutter but aiming for the stars, a low grade thriller with ambition and intelligence to set it that little bit above the rest. ***

As the credits rolled at the end of this movie I felt a sense of surprise more than anything. Surprised that 'The Rise' was a very good film, exceeding my expectations in every way. A hidden gem almost, a film that I had not heard of until I saw it on Netflix. I am a fan of the genre; the British 'indie' scene is one that I usually enjoy.

This movie is marketed as a heist & revenge movie, which is exactly what it is, but it is not your run of the mill heist flick. It is a powerful, gripping & gritty drama with a great solid plot, good characters & superb acting.

It starts very well, throwing you into the story, the lead character is being interviewed by a detective and he begins to tell the story, showing the viewer how he came to be in that situation. The movie does go down a few gears through the middle of the film but then picks up pace and the final 30-40 minutes are fantastic. I won't ruin anything, but the end of the film is very, very enjoyable. The acting is superb; you genuinely feel for the characters and certainly take sides between the good and bad. The 4 main lads are all convincing and portray their own characters well. There is definitely chemistry between the 4 leads and they do have a realistic, relatable relationship.

One negative I have is that I thought the relationship/girlfriend storyline was a little unnecessary but it is something we have come to expect in almost every film nowadays. To give credit though, it was kept to a minimum and acted more as a sub plot rather than taking centre stage throughout.

I'm not going to say much more as I don't want to give anything away. I'm not sure why this film is so hidden, it never took off and never went mainstream. I know there was a delay in releasing it and it also underwent a title change from 'Wastelands' to 'The Rise'. Overall it is a very impressive film from a novice director/writer with good acting from all the young and upcoming British stars.

8/10

This film had been sat in my Netflix queue for ages and I kept putting off watching it and almost didn't watch it. I'm not really sure why, but I just had a feeling that the 4 leads would be unlikeable one dimensional chavs - I'll admit that I was being a bit presumptuous. All I can say is that I'm so glad that I was wrong.

I'll admit that the first 15-20 minutes of the film did play out as I thought; the characters were annoying at first, the dialogue was a bit shaky, but once the plot kicks in the film seems to find a new gear and I found that the more I watched it, the more enjoyment I got from it.

One thing I did like about this film is the depth and complexities of its characters - we have Dodd (Matthew Lewis) who seems very much grounded and fears change (not wanting to venture outside of his own town, never mind leave the country). We have Charlie (Gerard Kearns) who is an out of work welder with an alcoholic mother who I felt was more a victim of circumstance than anything else. Then we have the mastermind behind the 'revenge' plot Harvey (Treadaway) who finds himself in a difficult place when he has to try to balance his desire to get his vengeance against Roper (Neil Maskell) and his need to try and appease his old flame Nicola (Vanessa Kirby). Each character had their own identity and all the characters felt real and believable -they'll argue, they'll laugh and they ultimately show that can also work well as a team. I really felt when watching this that the 4 leads had been friends for a long time and you could also tell that they all really cared for each other (this in spite of some of the petty squabbles that they all had throughout the film).

One other thing I thought about this film was how clever it was; the film starts out as a standard tale of revenge, but part of the group's revenge is to carry out a heist - I won't say anymore than that, but let's just say that this made the film both exciting and fun to watch. This is where the film really comes into its own as there are various twists and turns throughout the film that will keep you guessing right up till the end.

As well as strong characterisation and a good script, The Rise also benefits from strong and believable performances. For me, Maskell gave the best performance as psychotic drug pusher Steven Roper. Maskell has a naturally menacing look and coupled with his solid acting this made him a particularly effective villain. All the other performances were fine, but Maskell was the one that stood out for me.

The Rise is a really good film and I wish that I hadn't left it in my Netflix queue for so long. The characters are believable, the acting was good, the script was excellent and very clever. If you're a fan of revenge films or heist films then you'll like this film. If revenge and heist films are your 2 favourite genres, then you may just have found your perfect film.

Harvey is set up for stint in prison for crime he didn't commit by the local gangster played by the very good Neil Maskell. When released Harvey (Luke Treadaway) ropes his 3 pals in getting some revenge against the notorious hard man. The film has a good pace, good acting and a cracking storyline. A hidden gem.