Hackney's Finest

I'm giving it 5 from 10 simply because it's from my old life and it's good to see some representation(wow, apparently that's a proper word. Plot circuit in a courier office in east London my ARSE. The main "character" and his 'colleagues' display an unbelievable level of ineptitude and do not convey any "plot" courier circuit in London, England. I am okay with some scope for messing about (dramatic license,etc). But, the main character would not be allowed near any real 'plot' circuit that has EVER existed in an east,west,north or south London office(unless the owner liked magic mushrooms more than money which is highly unlikely).It's is just sh*t that actually sort of but didn't really happen 20 years ago and it doesn't qualify as a "Movie" or work on any level. Good effort but must try harder. What about what the REAL characters that work the courier circuit, shame you don't know who they are or how their lives outweigh this tosh.

Following in the footsteps of a Great British love affair with heist and gangster movie, Hackney Finest hits the bullseye.

The grim story is seasoned by just the right amount of (dark) humour. In this regard, it definitely echoes some of Guy Richie or Tarantino's moments of brilliance.

The characters are, if not lovable, definitely charismatic. The eastern European gangsters are just as hilarious as they are scary.

Hackney Finest is not trying to revolutionise the genre: it embraces it, and definitely delivers.

Another side thing I liked, especially in regards to the current attitude of "spoiling trailers", is that Hackney's Finest trailer stays true to the spirit of film without giving away the very best bits. Refreshing

Normally I wouldn't stoop to reviewing or even watching one of the endless glut of embarrassingly poor mockney gangster romps that have tainted the British film industry ever since Guy Ritchie decided to give birth to said genre, but in this case, given the believable authenticity and blindingly scripted nature of said venture; I'll make an exception. Smack is the drug of choice in this tale, and likable user Cyrus plays the doped up protagonist finding himself on the receiving end of a particularly vicious and shamelessly corrupt detective looking to manipulate him into delivering a mammoth stash of brown. Fortunately Cyrus has sterling backup in the form of a pair of welsh gangsters who provide a wealth of snappy dialogue and brutish ballistics. Adding to the comedic energy are an equally deranged mob of Russians who the detective calls in to balance the odds. Every other character has their own podium of eccentricity on which to shine, and grimily they do. Naturally, there is foul language aplenty, but deployed in all the right places for a change, and the frequent incidents of gunplay are air- punchingly superb.

This is a strange hybrid of a film; on one hand it is quite a brutal London gang, drug and crime tale - with shooters. On the other it is actually quite a well realised dark comedy. I decided to suspend belief for ninety minutes and see what happened.

It is all about Sirus who is a mini cab controller, a seemingly nice guy and a drug dealer. He sells some of his gear to Welsh Yardies who drive up from the valleys for their stuff . There is also a particularly nasty cop - Priestly who is more rotten than a South American Junta, but also has a way with words that is both profane and actually very amusing. I would not want a parking ticket from him. He is on to Sirus and does not use the rule book in any way that a normal cop would recognise.

There is also 'casual racism' which may cause offence even where done for laughs, there is some graphic depictions of violence and there is a lot of shooting. Despite the plot errors and some less than savoury scenes I still found myself laughing and getting completely involved with all the characters. There is also a gang of stereotyped Russian meat heads who were all brilliant - even down to personalised phone rings. All in all this was ninety minutes that just flew by, and as such I wish I had seen this sooner.

It is really great to see a British independent movie, we get so few British films these days and this one has some gloss. Although I heard this was quite a low budget film, at no time does it give the impression there was a budget. The film is slick and glossy, some really great stunts and was very polished. I loved the way the characters were introduced at the beginning of the film, really nice directing. This is not your run of the mill action movie. Parts of this film are shocking reminding me of how I felt when I first watched Train Spotting. There are some really graphic images but presented in a comedic way. It shouldn't have worked but it did, I found myself laughing and then felt guilty. The cast has been well selected for the characters they play. Great characterisation! I personally loved the Russian gangsters. Evil as they are I couldn't help laughing and even liking the leader of the Russian gang. The Welsh "Yardies" are very entertaining and added humour to the film but equally they looked the part. The story line has a good pace and some cracking one liners. Some great location shooting giving this film a really gritty and realistic edge. Might need to provide ear muffs for the over 50's (language a bit ripe for me but to be fair the language was used in a humorous way so , after the initial shock I accepted it and felt it added to the atmosphere. Would make a great film to watch in a group over pizza and some beers! Would be good to see a sequel to this.