Wasteland

OK i don't review much stuff (indeed this is probably my first film review) but i feel like this film needs a little helping hand. This film is above average for your standard Brit flick, the acting is great, the story bounces along nicely & the overall plot is clever. If you like a good honest film, with decent acting, a nice bit of revenge, a nice bit of robbery, and a nice bit of violence, get this one watched. It seems to have been off a lot of people radars but it certainly deserves a wider audience, if you liked lock stock, or the bank job etc, in fact if you like any sort of heist/revenge scenario, this is a definite for your watch list. 7* from me but i can understand people scoring it that little bit higher, it really is a good watch.

Having watched a number of British crime/gangster/hiest films has led me to a simple conclusion...we just don't do them so well (with the exception of a notable few). Flimsy story lines, flimsier plots and character development to name just a few of my gripes. Very few stand up against what the rest of the world has to offer.

I went into this film with very little expectation, and up until the last 30 mins it seemed I was to be proved right yet again....not so!

A great watch in the end. Yes, the storyline doesn't tread any new ground. But what it does, it does very well I think. It seems to plod along quite nicely with some decent enough character development and acting (but to be honest nothing spectacular). But the plot and the twists towards the end are well worth the wait. And kudos to the director/writer to leave in a 'did he/didn't he' scenario, where it is left to the viewers imagination as to what happens next. Far too few film makers do this in my opinion, preferring to spoon-feed the audience every bit of detail.

I was also impressed with the soundtrack. Very contemporary (with the odd golden oldie thrown in), and which was actually quite emotional at times.

I must admit I have been rather generous in rating this a 7/10. But that is because I am just so pleased that something of this quality has been produced in Britain.

Would definitely recommend this.

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. ***

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.

I got to catch this at TIFF (My first film ever seen at the festival) and loved it. Great story, pacing, soundtrack, cinematography, writing, acting and direction. First-time writer-director Rowan Athale gets it right. My only problem was that he tries to do too much in his debut. What he does is great, but if he had tried to maybe do less in terms of covering the norms of heist and crime films, i.e. the ____ steps of committing a crime successfully. That's it. Timothy Dalton and Luke Treadway have great back and forth dialogue, and just when you think the film is over and you have unanswered questions, your questions are answered and you are given more of the brilliant story, and a great ending that perfectly ties up everything.

I'm not sure if this will appeal to North American audiences, but it looks like it could be a huge hit in the UK. I loved it, and I highly recommend it.