McVicar

I nearly forgot this tremendous crime film from UK. It was made in the early eighties, the same year as LONG GOOD FRIDAY, also a terrific gem. This one was made by Tom Clegg a future prolific British director, and starred by a non actor - such a shame for the movie business, because Roger Daltrey is far far above being convincing in the lead role. He could have made many other films of this kind. The prison sequences, in the first part, are however a bit lame, the inmates picture a bit too smooth. I expected something tougher, compared to the rest of the film. I think it was too cliché, too easy described. Excellent film however.

A gripping portrayal of a seasoned villain's desire to escape from prison and start a new life. Roger Daltrey succeeds in making John McVicar appear to be a decent family man despite his hard-man antics. Adam Faith is excellent as Walter, McVicar's colleague in prison. Again, he is portrayed to be a cheeky Cockney geezer, immensely likeable.

From the outset, the prison guards are given no sympathy, they are brutal,unfair and dim-witted. Daltrey's vocals are used extensively to colour the film and the viewer is left in no doubt as to the director's sympathies. John McVicar is now a respected writer and broadcaster.

I'm a big fan of prison dramas and for some reason the ones made around this era seem to be the best in terms of quality: they're usually the most down-to-earth and realistic, and often hard-hitting with it. MCVICAR is a film with a lot of baggage attending – not only is it a true story, it stars one of Britain's biggest music stars, Roger Daltrey, in the titular role. Could it live up to expectations?

I think so. In essence, this is the British answer to Eastwood's ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ – a story of one man's journey to escape the mundane nature of prison life. Yes, there are the expected clichés and yes, the last act of the film is far less interesting and suspenseful than what's come before, but for the most part MCVICAR is a film that does the business. Director Tom Clegg, later a mainstay of television with the SHARPE movies, does an excellent job and I think this is the highlight of his resume. It's a taut, compelling and funny crime film.

Great cast, too: Daltrey is decent as McVicar, playing up the hard-man persona with plenty of guts; Adam Faith is solid as the good-guy prisoner with plans of freedom. I also enjoyed Billy Murray as McVicar's buddy on the outside, the brief cameo from an incredibly haggard-looking Ian Hendry, and Steven Berkoff as another inherently sinister type. Okay, it doesn't really offer anything you haven't seen before, but that doesn't stop MCVICAR from being a highly entertaining movie.

An absolute classic, with Daltrey portraying McVicar to a T. One of the best British gangster flicks, that will undoubtedly have taught Guy Ritchie a thing or two. Directed in such a way that the viewers sympathy lies unequivocally with the criminal, it relates a message without being pious. Very refreshing.

OK. Decent enough film. 'Rock star tries his hand at acting' is so often a recipe for disaster, but Roger Daltrey is convincing here. And he has good support from the rest of the cast and the director. It is a low budget effort, and as such deserves credit for ending up as a very watchable piece of cinema.

I have one major problem with it though. And that is the way most of the convicts are seen as basically decent salt-of-the-earth blokes, while all figures of authority are seen as the harsh, unsympathetic enemy. This is especially so in the first half of the film, when we are expected to sympathise automatically with the prisoners (most of whom are seen as extremely likable chirpy cockneys doing their best against the unfair adversity of being in the nick) against the guards (all very unsympathetically played as tyrants or halfwits).

I'm not a strict moralist. And I don't believe that all people in prison are monsters. But if you watch the film you will see what I mean. There is a subtle balance required in presenting the human side of an armed robber, or even a petty thief, in a film. It can be done, and done well. But here all we get is a lazy 'it's us lovable villains versus them lot' mentality. And what is annoying is that this is 'beneath' the makers of the film. I think they were talented enough to be able to write and play more rounded characters and get a similar message across in a more authentic way.

Anyway: that's my main problem with McVicar. Watch it and see if you agree. It is not a bad film - I've given it a 6, which seems to accord with the IMDb opinion. If anything, it is worth seeing for the curiosity value of Daltrey's decent performance.