9mm: O Preço da Vingança

I saw Rollin' with the nines in Newham Showcase Cinema on Friday, and I was very pleasantly surprised! The first maybe 20-25 minutes was extremely hard to get into. It was a bit of a barrage on your senses getting thrown into this world at the deep end. However the film changes direction at the half hour mark and goes from strength to strength.

The best bit of the whole film was the first raid on the yardies. It was as good if not better then the Hollywood film Narc, which I love. It was really excellent, got the heart racing and was filmed brilliantly. Another nice scene was the tale of the Sawn off 12 gauge, original and clever.

Me and my mates who went to see it all agreed Rollin' was best when following the coppers. Weird I know, because after most gangster films it kind of makes you want to be a gangster, but the film shows those characters life's so brutally that after the film it kind of makes you want to a hard arse detective, even though they were 'corrupt' cops! The best performance is from Terry Stone, he has a real screen presence, stealing scenes away from seasoned Brit flick actors like Vas Blackwood and Jason Flemyng.

A really brilliant effort for a low budget British film, I hope it gets the cinema time it rightfully deserves, especially when their is rubbish like Scary Movie 4 out there clogging up our theatres! It may start very heavy for the average cinema goer but stick with it, because by the end you don't want it to end.

Gangster films are a stable of the British film industry, with many crime films coming out in some form or another each year. It is often a safe bet to make it a debut feature, but every few people could match the success of Guy Ritchie or Matthew Vaughn.

Too Fine (Simon Webb), Pusher (Robbie Gee) and Rage (Roffem Morgan) are three friends who seem to make it out of the ghetto and on the edge of becoming underground rap stars. But one night Too Fine is shot dead and his sister Hope (Naomi Taylor) is raped and threaten by a drug dealer, Temper (Patrick Regis). Hope gets her revenge and Pusher, Rage and their friend Finny (Vas Blackwood) take control of Temper's operation for a drug kingpin (Billy Murray) after killing his crew. But on the case of is police detective (Terry Stone), wanting to get them killing a young waitress in a club shooting and use any method to get them.

Director Julian Gilbey is seen as a raising star as a director and he does have some talent, he can work with a budget, he can deliver on action and keeps the film going at a fast pace. The action scene in the gun runner's house looked and felt very much like a similar scene in Bad Boys 2 and there is a solid car chase in the countryside. But this is a very unfocused film, not knowing whether to focus on Hope and the crew or the police investigate, the scene in the gun runner's house felt like it belonged in a different film and that the crew were not on screen for quiet awhile. It could have easily have been about Hope who after getting raped and her revenge becomes a female gangster and the crew rise and fall but Hope still having the trauma of the rape in the back of her mind. Or it could have been about a dirty/corrupt cop who after seeing an innocent person gets killed or injured has a moral crisis as they investigate the crime. Rollin' With the Nines also felt very much like it was trying to be an American film, including the police detectives having guns, when only specialist armed units in the police are allowed to use guns in the UK and the police ranks are very American, like using Detective and Captain instead Detective Sergeant and Superintendent or DCI. This is also a film that enjoyed violence, using a lot of blood instead of being a more realistic tone I believe that the filmmakers were trying to aim for.

Rollin' With the Nines almost felt like an non well written version of The Wire, focusing on a duel narrative about a police investigation and different ranking gangster in a drug operation and the police even using a homeless crack addict as an informant, even if the relationship is different.

The acting throughout is pretty weak. The best performance came from Simon Webb which is very surprising because he is a pop singer and he dies in the first 10 minutes. The black characters are speak in typical 'ghetto' speak, using slang all the time and because of their different ages they did not even look like they should be friends. The police are simply geezers who break the rules and it seem like the film was trying to have it both ways, showing the police to be corrupt and willing to sell drugs for their own profit but want to do the right thing, bring down big drugs rings and murders. Rollin' With the Nines suffers from having no likable characters; they are violence or corrupt and have few redeeming features. If it was meant to be a story about the corrupting affects of crime on both sides or that they are no good guys in this world, but it did not success on that front. And because of the unfocused nature of the film it felt like it did not know who the protagonist is and there for who the audience is meant to route for.

Rollin' With the Nines shows that Gilbey had some potential behind the camera, but needed more focus on a character and story level. He also had a problem of being too violence, enjoying using the blood packs a bit too much. But you can do a lot worst then this film.

Within the first five minutes it wasn't the nines I was rolling but my eyes . Oh dear I thought yet another British film where some white middle class posh boys straight out of film school produce a movie that tells what life is like in da ghetto where life is cheap short and brutal and the inhabitants speak in a unique language which makes no sense unless you're Ali G . Despite this I did give it a chance since it was directed by Julien Gilbey who did the very under rated RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER . I'm glad I did because this film is very engaging though perhaps not in a good way

Okay guv I confess . It's a fairly terrible movie . After the first five minutes we're treated to a drive by killing followed by a rape followed by a revenge killing . This all happens by the ten minute mark and the film has to pad out the next hour and a half by having gangland executions more retaliations and every sentence filled with the F and C words . At least I could understand the F and C words though , probably because I'm a white working class Celt . I didn't have a clue what the black characters were talking about and even if you're Brixton born and bred I guess you'd have no understanding of what this street lingo is . It goes way beyond parody and no matter who says what none of the dialogue sounds natural in anyway . We have a couple of corrupt cops and you'd be forgiven for thinking you're watching a comedy sketch show where a couple of comedians lampoon American cop shows . Their superior is referred to as " Captain " but as far as I know the Metropolitan police force don't have such a rank though they do in America . In more than a few places you think the action is taking place in an alternative universe where the Battle of Stalingrad meets South Central LA where the cops and the drug dealers engage in bitter house to house fighting

Yet despite all this or maybe because of all this ROLLIN remains very watchable . As I said it's a terrible film and is so over the top you worry the film might end up in orbit around Jupiter , but it's this deranged quality that keeps you watching similar as to watching a car crash . Some of the cast do deserve some praise such as Terry Stone for keeping a straight face as they spout their dubious dialogue , though some of them such as Roffem Morgan as Rage are guilty of some painfully obvious wooden acting . Watch the scene where Rage has sex in a toilet and I've got to admit I've shown more passion doing a crossword puzzle . Gilbey also has a strange framing technique where everything is shot in medium close up but I guess that might be down to a lack of budget . He does deserve some credit in crafting a film that is thoroughly unpleasant , populated by universally unlikable characters that has not an ounce of realism and yet it's a film I enjoyed in a sleazy sort of way . Not something I'd admit to in a hurry

If you can get over the faults with this film it's actually quite enjoyable. Yes it's another London gangster movie and yes it's over the top at times. But it doses depict a sense of realism that most of this is happening in London nowadays for real.

The director takes no prisoners when Violence is concerned. It's often brutal, real and in your face.

Guns are everywhere in this movie as you would expect from the film title and the characters are not afraid to use them. In the opening 20 Min's there is a bit of Gun loving, a nightclub fight, a shooting and a Rape.

Then things go into overdrive.

Was very impressed with the shootout in the Jamaican crack den the whole scene gripped me from beginning to end. With an impressive use of CGI for the bullets which overall gave it a bit more realism. Ending in some excellent frying pan action From Mr Stone.

Terry Stone gives a menacing and believable performance as a hard nose crooked copper who seems to enjoy violence and bully boy tactics. To watch Jason Flemying and Terry Stone verbally spar was very enjoyable. Although Flemying in my opinion should have been used more in this movie his time on screen is a breath of fresh air to this film.

But it does seem that all the other actors in the police unit speak with the same monotone sleep educing deep voice. Which is noticeable when they are all together in a scene. The characterisation within the remaining police unit could have been better.

Billy Murray's character is predictable it would be nice to see this actor stretch himself outside of a gangster/crooked policeman role one day. But on this film he gives an all together a solid performance.

Vas (Wasn't he in grange hill) Blackwood gives another strong performance.

Robbie Gee seems to be in his element playing the bad boy yardie

Overall this film is enjoyable. It's rough round the edges at times as all low budget films are. The acting is ropey at times, noticeable from the first timers on screen. But the other actors outway this and produce an enjoyable solid gangster flick.

The sound track to this film as you would expect is full of in your face Rap and Reggie. Which all adds to the feel and the mood of the film.

Overall a good film

Just don't watch it with your mum or grandparents.

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits

Too Fine (Simon Webbe of boy band Blue) and his friends Finny (Vas Blackwood), Pushy (Robbie Gee) and Rage (Roffem Morgan) have formed an underground garage group called Too Fine and are hoping to make it into the big leagues. But it all goes tragically wrong when he is murdered by a rival gang leader over an unpayed street debt from his time selling rock on the streets. To make matters worse, with him gone, the weight of that burden falls on the shoulders of his sister Hope (Naomi Taylor) who is then beaten up and raped by his killer, with a promise of worse things to come if the debt is not settled soon. However, realizing there is no realistic way to settle the debt in time and to seek revenge for her brother's murder and her rape, she visits the man early one morning and blasts him to death. The dust seems to settle a little after this, until she learns that one of the man's top suppliers, gangster David Brumby (Billy Murray) has now lost a valuable source of income. Suggesting they work together instead of against each other, they split the difference and Hope and her brother's friends hit the streets again to sell the poison that got them by in the first place. However after an horrific nightclub shooting at the hands of Pushy and Rage in retaliation for Too Fine's murder, two persistent detectives start getting on their backs and it's only a matter of time before everything threatens to come crashing down around them.

This small, independent British gangster film has won acclaim at numerous Film Festivals and such, but has had an extremely limited distribution on it's release over here. But like other film's of it's sort, despite it's faults, it's destined to be one of those little seen gems that always gets this sort of distribution.

It's a film with a great sense of style, slickly shot and cleverly edited, as well as what is surely a very real depiction of the lives of those it is based around. It also delivers the goods in terms of being hard-hitting and powerful when it needs to be, with some strong, blood-thirsty violence with a lot of loud bangs present in some scenes. However it is the performances that are really noteworthy. Taylor has a certain sexiness to her in her role, a sort of strong black woman type which has appeal. Murray as Brumby is okay, but as soon as I saw him, I couldn't help but think of him as Johnny Allan from East Enders and hearing him use words like 'f*ck' and 'c*nt' really felt funny, especially as he says them in front of a lady, when you think of what a gentleman he's supposed to be in real life. Blackwood, Gee, Morgan and Webbe (making his film debut in what is a very small role) just sort of do what the script requires and fade into the background a little, but Terry Stone as one of the detectives has a good main role.

As I said, it has it's faults. It's not the most original sort of film we've been seeing at the moment, it's a bit excessive at times and it feels a little overlong. But if anywhere near you's showing it, it's a little released urban gem that's worth seeking out and seeing. ****