Best Laid Plans

This is film making, not movie making and if you don't understand the difference you might struggle to understand the film.

There are no bombs, flames or explosions but there is plenty of grit, pathos and some tidy cinematography.

Because of or in spite of the dreariness of the location where most of it was filmed, Tragic Nottingham ? Dunno, but it fits well.

The opening shot of Stephen Graham is worth the price of admission alone and from that shot you know what you're supposed to be going to get.

Sadly and all too often, such promise quickly fades but not here. The cast keep it tight enough to hold your interest and loose enough for the dialogue to be relaxed and natural, right through to the inevitable end.

This is in no short measure down to the talented cast, held together by Stephen Graham, another British actor from over here, who's doing rather well over there.

MORE like this, please, film makers.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Danny (Stephen Graham) is a scally low life in debt to big time gangster Curtis (David O' Hara) who is threatening to hurt his mentally impaired friend Joseph (Adowayle Agogoboyo Agabala) if he doesn't repay the debt soon. Danny sees no other way out, but to get Josepth to fight in illegal underground cage matches, which he does. But as he delivers more and more, the stakes get raised higher and higher, until Danny is forced to try and find a way out.

Best Laid Plans is a curious effort, that starts by setting itself up one way and from the way it opens, seems to employ a different style to what you were expecting. But, while it ultimately manages to be an effective drama thriller, it remains a film that is unsure of it's tone and style and where it wants to go with itself.

One theme it does settle on and seems to want to stick with through out, is the theme of disability and people with mental impairment problems, which leads to some uneasy and challenging viewing through out, as Joseph develops a romance with a fellow impaired person called Isabel (Maxine Peake), coming up against various trials and tribulations because of it. It's a surprising and daring theme to want to stick in a tale like this, and it doesn't help how morally reprehensible the lead character emerges, using his so called friend to fight in cage matches so he can pay off his grubby little debt to some gangster, while developing a relationship with call girl Lisa (Emma Stansfield) that takes an unconvincing turn at the end.

The film aims to be a simple 'down on his luck ne'er do well trying to get out of bother' tale, that ends up being a dark look in to how callous and predatory human instincts can be. For all this, it remains a fairly well written, ambitious film with some reliably steely lead performances from the two lead stars. It's dogged determination to make the viewer feel a bit uncomfortable really is a blessing and a curse for it, though. ***

Best Laid Plans is a British drama about a small time crook and his friendship with a man with learning difficulties. It is very much a modern day 'Of Mice and Men'.

Stephen Graham is a very good actor and he excels in his role as the carer who struggles with moral dilemma's concerning their friendship. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is excellent as the gentle giant. There are a few clichés among the backing characters but the strong cast do a good job with what they have.

This is a relationship and character driven film and those looking for an action film will be disappointed. However for fans of gritty drama there is more than enough to keep your interest throughout the film. Some viewers may find it an uncomfortable film to watch due to it's themes and there are some brutal scenes.

It is a bit of an uneven film at times but the ending really does make the film worthwhile. It is one of the most best shot endings of any film I've seen.

Best Laid Plans is well worth watching.

...as opposed to bittersweet. This British film was advertised on the DVD cover as being in the same vein as Lock, Stock and two Smoking Barrels, or Snatch. As a result I saw it unprepared, which was a good thing. This film is not a crime comedy at all, but a true blue drama. The story is loosely (I would say very loosely) based on Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, featuring a scrawny low-life and a gentle giant who share the same dream. In places it also reminds of Schulberg's The Harder They Fall.

Typically for this buddy movie, it is the smart one of the duo who keeps on dragging doom over the two in his quest for self-destruction. Can he redeem himself before the inevitable sad ending?

This really is very good but I think they've misjudged the trailer. This isn't really a gangster thriller or a fighting movie - it is actually a reimagining/reworking of Of Mice and Men.

A petty criminal, Danny (Stephen Graham), cares for a giant of a man with learning difficulties, Joseph (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). When Danny gets in trouble with a local crime boss he persuades Joseph to take part in a series of illegal cage fights in order to pay off his debt. OK, so far it sounds like a gangster/fighting flick, I grant you, but what has been left out of the trailer is the sub plot about Joseph falling in love with a young woman, also with learning difficulties, played by Maxine Peake.

I say 'learning difficulties' as I have no idea what the acceptable terminology is these days. Special needs? Luckily the film is down-to-earth and honest and doesn't pussyfoot around like I am. The characters speak as they would in real life, which does result in one very funny line which everyone in the audience laughed at but wouldn't dare repeat outside of the cinema*.

The subplot is handled with skill and care. The actors all turn in fine performances, especially Stephen Graham as the quick-witted but ultimately self-destructive central character and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as the simple giant, Joseph. Their relationship, as you discover more and more about it, it utterly believable and is the central spine of the whole film. It's not a life changer but it is fine piece of work and well worth checking out if you get the chance.