The Wee Man

I wasn't sure what to expect, a fairly absorbing movie dramatising the life of infamous Glaswegian Paul Ferris. A gangster with a degree of notorioty, the film puts him in a fairly good light, I'm not too sure that was the case in real life events. Well acted for the most part, Martin Compston is always a great performer, he brings the film to life. I have to say I loved Rita Tushingham's turn as Rita, not in it for long, but she was great. The violence was well realised, hard hitting and visually strong, great effects, explosions etc. The period detail was excellent, great cars, clothes etc. It's not a film I'd make a regular watch, but a decent watch nonetheless. 6/10

"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.

British cinema has not been at its best in recent years. All of our most brilliant story tellers go to Hollywood. The story here is good. Compelling even. The main characters journey from scared boy to prolific gangster is a decent enough. Rather than being a bad story done well, this is a good story done badly. The writing isn't great, although the acting is for the most part decent. The film fails because the narrative is massively disjointed, which is a shame because the production values seem quite high and if a little more care had been taking in 'how' to tell this good story then it would have been a decent film. Watch if you have nothing better to do.

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.

Went to see this in the cinema and thought it would be hard hitting and exciting. Had high expectations but was really let down. Firstly, all the woman cast members were terrible. Acting left a lot to be desired and were wooden and frankly annoying. Stand out performance was from the actor who played Arthur Jr (Fat Boy.) Being from Glasgow- the accents were ridiculous- if you come from the South Side of Glasgow you don't talk like you are from Edinburgh. Some of the more violent scenes were quite good. The most annoying thing about this film was the portrayal of Paul Ferris. He was not a hero, he did not stab and scalp people because he was bullied as a child. He was a criminal and a thug. Its as if someone has listened to Paul Ferris' side of the story and not listened to anyone else. The film was mince. Would give this a miss if you are interested in the Glasgow Gangster scene as it does not ring true to what really happened.