Gangster Playboy: La chute des Essex Boys

There have been three films made about this very case, which in my (not so) humble opinion is at least one too many... and this entry may be the straw that broke the dromedary's back. Hamstrung by a tw*t of a narrator who you want to psychically harm ever time he utters a syllable, and full of drug-snorting losers who can only repeat the C and F words ad infinitum, there is no-one here to care about and consequently, zero reason to keep you watching. Of course, this being a 'lads' movie they throw in a strip joint with plenty of gratuitous nudity for the undiscerning, but you can see more in Nuts magazine every week, so why not get a copy of that instead? Just don't bother trying to find it at the Co-op.

The minor pleasures on offer here include a few scenes of ultra-violence perpetuated by our psychotic 'heroes'... at least you can can't accuse these parts of being dull. And, because this film is set in the mid-90's, the attempts at period detail are interesting... from chunky mobile phones to discussing the O J Simpson trial. Such isolated moments however, are overrun by tiresome kn*bs with annoying accents competing with each other to see who can be the biggest idiot. I think I'll declare a draw. And if another movie company decides to do yet ANOTHER version of this oft-told tale, could they do me a personal favour and... forget it? 4/10

There are now three movies on the 1995 Rettendon murders, if I have counted correctly. In chronological order: Essex Boys, The Rise Of The Foot Soldier, and now The Fall Of The Essex Boys. The former is a conventional feature movie (starring Sean Bean), the latter two use a documentary-style approach with first-person narrators. The Fall Of The Essex Boys tries to be the hardest of them all, it almost feels as if the narrator is spitting into your ear ("It didn't take long for the near gear to spread frough Essex like an effing virus.") The actors are all trying a bit to hard to appear tough as nails and their overdone Cockney accents quickly begin to grate. At the same time, it does a bad job at recounting at least a semblance of a plot. All three movies revel in machism and violence. If that's your cuppa, I recommend The Rise Of The Footsoldier, to which The Fall Of The Essex Boys has nothing to add (except maybe more plump-breasted birds).

The fact that a fairly conventional triple gangland murder still spawns movies twenty years later tells you what a quiet little place Old Blighty really is.

Not one of the best adaptations of the story.

Nothing you haven't seen before in the other versions, apart from the very end (which I won't give away)and the slightly different viewpoint; it almost assumes that you've seen or read the story before and it has the familiar milestones. The acting isn't too bad, but the cutting of the scenes could have been a bit sharper, and the characters could have been introduced better. Again, if you're not familiar with the story, you'll wonder what's happening. It copies some story styles from other movies, but without the same care and finesse. All the versions I've seen and read about portray Tate as a psycho, but they all have the same few stories about him. He was obviously wild, but he doesn't seem to have been prolific in his violence, more of a show-off. It does try to be a quick fire narrative, but it comes across more as a badly edited, amateur production. Disappointing.

A truly awful film,there are numerous mistakes,Michael Steele is portrayed here as supplying the ecstasy that killed Leah Betts which is completely untrue.Also it relies on imaginary events such as the Essex Boys whacking 3 drug dealers in Amsterdam,anybody who has even a basic knowledge of what happened in Rettendon in 1995 will laugh their heads off,i was simply gobsmacked at how this even got released,it is not even good enough to go straight to DVD.Kierston Wareing was great in previous 'Essex Boys' films but should really have known better,the acting is so over the top and the worst thing for me was the talk over by some idiot trying to sound threatening but actually coming across as a prize chump.

The premise for this movie looked pretty good to begin with. I was looking forward to watching something that is sort of based on truth, and something that is far removed from the usual American type gangster stuff we are all so used too, a movie that is based in an area I grew up in, hoping to catch an insiders glance at what else happens and has happened in the now notorious realms of Essex gangster land. However after just a few seconds into the movie it was clearly apparent that the only emotions this film was going to stir in me was utter disappointment!

Who on earth thought that a shouting over acting voice over man was a good idea? his voice is so not Essex! his constant swearing and over hyping was completely off putting. Then there's the acting itself, with most of the the actors just trying to be look as if someone just stole there lolly pop, so they decided to throw their toys out of the pram and create completely unbelievable characterless caricature of what I guess the director thought Essex people are! and no we are not a cross between Towie and Derek from Eastenders with a leaning towards mental breakdown.

The films look and feel could be rather immersive at times, the camera work lighting locations etc and the soundtrack made for a slick looking gritty Brit movie, Just to be horribly let down by a dreadful script and even worse acting, I mean who are these actors? (and I am being kind when I call them actors) The subject matter has been seen before and done better before.

If you want to see Essex in a less than flattering portrayal and your a fan of movies about football hooligans and the like, then this will be up your street, however for me this film is not only poorly made, but well out of date, this could have been made 10 to 15 years ago and perhaps been better received back then.

Sadly this movie should be avoided and lost in the bargain buckets of bankrupt video stores or a late night TV outing, not a cinema screen.