Freight

As a fan of British gangster movies I was looking forward to watching this, but this movie is so bad - one of the worst I've ever seen. The similarities to Taken in terms of plot are obvious, but that's all this has in common with that much superior effort. The direction in Freight is hit and miss and the script is terrible, it often resembles a home movie with added fireworks. Sadly some of the acting is even worse than the script. Did the director not bother with auditions? There are so many bad performances in the movie but the actors playing the twins are so bad they'll actually make you laugh, two passers-by could have been dragged in off the street who would look more comfortable in front of a camera. The best advice I can give to the actor playing Stevie is to give up and get a proper job, because he is not an actor. His brother playing Sonny may be even worse and more wooden, removing the energy out of every scene he's in with a strange anti-charisma and expressionless face. Hardly surprising to note via IMDb that other than a bit part on Channel 4 he has hardly worked since he left run of the mill daytime soap Doctors. You wonder how some actors manage to pay the rent.

Trying to look at the positives I suppose the film has it's heart in the right place, human trafficking is an evil that ruins many lives, but you have to wonder about the good that charities concerned with helping the victims of human trafficking could have done with the £2.5 million budget which Freight supposedly cost (what WAS that budget spent on, it looks like it cost a tenth of that amount). A couple of other positives, and the reason this gets two stars from me rather than one, are the performances of Billy Murray and Laura Aikman. Both actors should be free of any criticism aimed at Freight. Murray phones it in here, appears to be going through the motions and thinking about the pay cheque (just like those ambulance chasing commercials he appears in) but he is as competent as ever. Laura Aikman does well also as kidnap victim Julie. She clearly has talent, it's just a shame she ends up in duffers like this. Taking a look at the directors IMDb profile it appears he's a relative of hers (Uncle? Father?) so you can understand why she took the role on. Sadly though appearing in movies like this may only harm her future employability. St Paul may have a future as a director, but probably not as a writer, and hopefully he will do better in the future with a script created by others.

As a fan of British movies and gangster films in particular I had looked forward to seeing this and was not disappointed. Good story which is help together by decent acting and well defined characters. Great action, well directed and a film to enjoy over and over. Some films in a similar genre try too hard to thrill and excite. Freight simply builds and holds the attention. For me this has the feel of a good old fashioned British film in so much that you care about what happens next, not often the case in many of the huge big budget Hollywood epics. We have all seen films where you are willing the end to draw to a close. With Freight you want to see more and that's the mark of a great film. No hesitation in giving this 10 out of 10!

I hesitate to add lots negatives here but, poorly scripted, all characters were not established, so was left wondering till later in the movie who was who. Mediocre acting all the way, but good special effects and quite good fight scenes. The political points well rammed home (probably unintentional) but all I wanted to watch was a darned good gangster flick. Didn't get it. If you want a good flick try London Boulevard, not this one. Not authentic and OTT. Met Matt Kennard (Sonny) several months back, who worked hard to get in shape, and he is a fitty (no acting there), came across at the time as a really nice chappie, but this is not his best effort and know he can do better given a classy script, plus acting alongside widescreen experienced actors. Another involvement with a flop like this and it will run a mega risk for him of tarnishing future career prospects. In a nutshell finally, loose ends galore, and 'mucho' disappointed. Still waiting on a gangster flick classic sometime ; maybe their days have come & gone.

I accompanied a crew member to a screening of this movie and was entertained throughout. A strong story line if not a little controversial with excellent action and pace.

The film starts well and maintains a good pace with a balance of action, tragedy and then draws the viewer into the world of a father striving to save his kidnapped daughter. This emotional content works very well indeed and one finds oneself truly hating the bad guy in the plot played with a superb intensity by Danny Midwinter.

The fight scenes work well and achieve a real brutal and animal edge to the illegal cage fighting scene.

The movie revolves around the sex trafficking trade and it is this element of the film that finds a harsh reality. The sleaze of this horrible environment and the despicable treatment of women and girls trapped there adds to the power of the film. If this movie has a message to carry then surely it is here.

A must see film this year.

I caught this in Cannes and was thoroughly impressed as the UK has been crying out for a good, character-based action film for ages. The set-pieces in the film (some brutal cage fights and other action scenes) are really well structured, but more importantly they all have a sense of character. You really care about the characters involved and their motivations dictate the actions they take. Also the action is refreshingly realistic and crisply shot and edited, unlike a lot of other films these days.

I won't mention any spoilers but the performances here are very good, especially Billy Murray as Gabe, and Danny Midwinter who gives a genuinely terrifying performance as the main villain Christi. Craig Fairbrass lends solid support but his character is the only one that feels slightly under-written, unless perhaps some of his character's scenes were deleted? Christi's main henchman (Andrew Tiernan I think) and the main cage fighter character were both splendid as well.

The ending of the film is a bit ambiguous but this only adds to the reality of the situation portrayed.

I would recommend Freight to fans of action drama, and for fans of cracking, old-school British cinema. You won't be disappointed.