The Wee Man

"What must be appreciated is that war among civilians,such as I am describing, is ever so much more ambiguous and enigmatic than a war between nations". Joe Bonanno.

No pop-corn was crunched, by a decent-sized Glaswegian audience, as they intently watched this film.

Fact. There was another boy who grew up in Blackhill. He avoided drink and got into politics, becoming a local councillor, then council leader, then elected to the Scottish Parliament and held ministerial office. Not all people from Blackhill are the same. Not all Glaswegians are the same.

Male lead plays a boy who grew up in the Blackhill area of Glasgow. The area was a scheme (peripheral estate), which was well known for its criminality and violence. The fear of violence that pervaded this, and similar areas of Glasgow, is shown well in early parts of the film, and throughout it.

The boy is shown trapped in this violent environment, and as he grows up, he has to try to cope with this reality. This film is based on the autobiography of his life. A generation ago, there was a film entitled 'A Sense of Freedom', and this film is of the same genre. The main events in this film occurred about two decades ago in Glasgow. It is amazing that it has taken so long to make a film of those events, as there was always a decent gangster film to be made on the subject. Organized crime in Glasgow is not highly structured, it is based around blood-families and this is shown well in the film. Casual violence is also associated with territorially-based street-gangs.

Lead male acts well, as does the rest of the cast. Main gang-leaders are played well and convince in their roles of gang-leaders oozing cunning and inspiring fear. Their names were well known to Glaswegians, this reviewer has been in company where a certain name has hardly dared to be whispered.

The main events in the film will be familiar to many Glaswegians. It has been too long since this reviewer read the autobiography, or any thing else on the subject, to see how closely the film sticks to this. However, broadly, film sticks to events that are well known; legally, in at least one version of events, or just as mere street gossip.

The film tries to give explanations, which causes the film to jump about a bit chronologically. Real events are shown, but sometimes the chronology is changed. Other real events are added to, for legal or artistic reasons, and they will be easily spotted by Glaswegians. Most of the main events will be familiar to Glaswegians. Outsiders would be surprised how truthful some things were, sometimes just very little details.

The film was not made with a lot of money and this sometimes shows in some stage-sets. There was very little location shooting done in Glasgow, which no doubt Glaswegians will miss and notice. Those not familiar with Glasgow, please note, this does not ruin the film, but please be aware, the real-life Glasgow locations were less grand and more grim. One particular location could not be filmed as it had been demolished. A well-known story, which sadly is not in the film.

I remember reading 'Donny Brasco' many years ago, thinking it would be a great film, and not happy when the film came out, as it was very different from the book. However, 'Donny' is a good film. Treat this film the same way. For artistic and legal reasons, sometimes things need to be changed. The recollections of one person may not match those of someone else.

Some criticize this film for glamourizing violence. This reviewer disagrees. Criminality, gangsterism and violence are de-glamourized by this film.

This film should always have been made. The subject matter makes that so. It is a good gangster film, hence; 7/10.

This film is truly awful. The lead actor is totally out his depth as a Glasgow gangland enforcer and the way the story was portrayed was nothing short of a pantomime in it's attempt to position the lead character as the hero.

Does this film have any redeeming qualities? No!

If you think you will see a good British gangster film full of big characters, violence, betrayal and other must have ingredients you are wasting your time.

Do not bother to watch this, you will be angry at how amateurish it is.

"The Wee Man" is an above average British gangster flick that has a serious pacing issue in the final act, and too few memorable characters, to make it a classic.

There are so many British gangster flicks that there are even a few that are considered classics, such as "The Long Good Friday", "Get Carter", and "Mona Lisa". I've never seen one set in Scotland, though. This one is allegedly based on a real person. The movie feels fairly realistic as it shows his embrace of crime and what led him to it. You can empathise; the man isn't just a cold hearted killer.

When it gets involved with the details of criminal life, the movie loses a bit of ground because it's hard to tell who everybody is. The movie eventually becomes a series of shootings that tries to wrap it up a bit too quickly.

Despite having an R18+ rating here in Australia the violence isn't particularly graphic, but there is a fair bit of it.

It's probably a must-see for British gangster film fans, but anybody else can skip it.

It was incredible to watch, but it put me off knowing that it was a true story, as it just seemed like a gangster fantasy. It was violent for no reason and slightly annoying at times. The main actor playing Ferris was brilliant. I almost felt myself acting his scenes after I watched it. He played the script off realistically and I really wanted to believe him. It's very rare that I'm on the edge of my seat. He was so intense, in the right way for this role. Great job, someone give this guy more work. Some of the accents were a little confusing. I'm pretty sure none of the actors were from Glasgow, but whatever, I'm sure anyone outside Scotland won't notice. I would've liked to have seen Ferris and his Dad act more together. Those scenes with just him and his dad were beautiful to watch. Fantastic acting! In some parts, I really caught a glimpse of working class Glasgow, however, I think it should've been portrayed slightly darker. It was a bit candy floss compared to "NEDS". I didn't feel like I was watching Glasgow. At times it could've been based in an old London setting. Overall, it's a great film to watch with the boys. It was intense but I could imagine it would be fun to watch it with others. It shouldn't have been portrayed as a true story as it may have been slightly more successful. But great film, decent acting and visually entertaining.

I was interested to see this movie as I had heard about it in production and thought a Scottish gangster film would be entertaining. Well, first you have to tune in to the Scottish accent which my wife found pretty hard. But other than that I found it a very enjoyable romp with a few scenes that make you flinch or smile but without the use of close up gore. How accurate it is historically is questionable but that is true of almost all "true life" movies, nevertheless the characters are well developed and largely believable and there are some great performances from Martin Compston as Ferris, John Hannah as Tam McGraw and particularly Stephen McCole as a troubled Junior Thomson. Watch it with an open mind and enjoy, The Godfather it isn't but for a low budget UK produced movie it is good entertainment.