Double X: The Name of the Game

For some reason, the director remade the not very good to begin with short film 'Vengeance' almost exactly, then expanded it with a lot of gangster hokum. Throw in Norman Wisdom playing it straight (as if guest starring in The Bill), an overheated plot like a teetering Jenga stack of cliches, and on first viewing you have the kind of stinker that negated the very idea of a British film. Having seen it multiple times, however, it's virtues become apparent - top of the list being Bernard Hill, having fun as the villainous Iggy. Every actor here seems to be acting in a different film of their own. There's an ever shifting inconsistency of tone throughout - like it was written in total seriousness but the absurdity of the material made it impossible for the cast to play it straight. In fact I think most of it was made up on the spot. It's not sleazy or violent enough to be a trash classic, but is still far better and more credible than anything Guy Ritchie ever did.

DOUBLE X: THE NAME OF THE GAME is one of those long-forgotten independent films that came out during the 1990s, when a lot of young directors suddenly found themselves with the means to make their own movies unconstrained by the studios. This one's directed by a guy better known for his work on the BBC TV series DOCTORS and apparently based on a novel by an author nobody's heard of, which doesn't bode well.

It turns out to be an unwieldy little gangster film featuring Norman Wisdom in the leading role. Norman Wisdom! Yes, I couldn't quite believe it myself either. It's very odd to see Wisdom playing it straight and as an elderly hero type, although casting him as the young woman's father instead of grandfather was a very odd decision. There are even a couple of action scenes which are incredibly embarrassing for the old-time comedian. Bless him. He's not the world's greatest actor, but you love him anyway because he's Wisdom.

The film features a second lead in the form of CARRIE star William Katt. He's obviously been shoehorned into the plot in a bid to appeal to American audiences who'd no doubt scratch their heads at the prospect of seeing some old duffer as the main character. Katt feels wooden and uncomfortable, but being a fan of the actor I liked him anyway. The film begins quite promisingly with explosions and car chases and the like before descending into inanity with a boring, drawn-out back story with some very unsatisfying plot twists.

Basically, Wisdom plays a bad guy surrounded by even more ruthless gangster types. A bit of back-and-forth back-stabbing plays out, along with some mild thriller elements, but it's not particularly believable and the story seems to literally fall apart as it goes on. To compensate for this, a bunch of familiar faces have been brought into play. Bernard Hill and Simon Ward are here, alongside cameos for Derren Nesbitt and Vladek Sheybal, and the gorgeous RED DWARF actress Chloe Annett. Their presence doesn't make DOUBLE X a good film, but it is a fun oddity to seek out.

O.k. i watched the film last week because lots of people said it was a terrible film and i like bad films plus i like norman wisdom and was looking forward to seeing him play a diffrent style of role than he usually plays. Wisdom plays a gangster, well a safecracker in a gang he is sort of the brains behind the operation a mild mannered quiet fellow who hasent got quite the sort of mean spirit the rest of the gang have. So the story is this, a man visiting scotland from chicago who was a policeman meets wisdom in a empty hotel restraunt, he chats to him and is interested in him somewhat (we find out why later, i dont want to give it away but it is a nice twist). Anyway wisdom is acting edgy and after the fella buts into wisdoms business wisdom takes him hostage and orders him to drive wisdom to the ferryport, while driving wisdom tells the man his story, how wisdom was a safecracker for a gang but felt they were going to kill him after his next job so he sort of set the gang up (more on that later) and ran away from the gang but not before they kidnapped his daughter hilariously tying her up and putting her in a "silence of the lambs" style dungeon conveniantly put in the basement of a club the gang member owns. So wisdom has escaped the gang but they are after him, so he has to form a unlikely truce with the american so wisdom can escape to safety but things dont exactly turn out as planned. Thats all i really can tell you as the twist about halfway through is best kept for you to watch for yourself. Now for the film itself, wisdom puts in a tired performance to be honest, if you want to see him tackle a serious role watch "going gently" or if you want to see him in a diffrent light to his usual films watch "whats good for the goose" thats a great film as its sort of a naughty sex comedy quite diffrent to wisdoms usual style of film. I think because of wisdoms previous slapstick films it can be at times difficult to take him seriously, there were numerous parts in the film where i was half expecting him to shout "MR GRIMSDALE" and fall down a set of stairs but unfortunatly it didnt happen, he was quite old in this film and im afraid it shows, theres a part in the film where he has to slap a woman and its such a feeble slap im surprized they didnt reshoot it. As for the other actors in the film the always good "bernard hill" (yosser hill from boys from the blackstuff) plays a gangster called ignatious "iggy" smith and he is a shining example of how a actor should play that sort of role, im serious his performance really makes the film so so SO good, he maniacally chews his way through every scene and is a joy to watch, he is a disabled gangster with a bad leg (ha) so bad is his leg all someone had to do when confronted by him in a scene was to push him over and he was lifeless as a darlek, he has all the good lines here whether throwing his boss out of a helicopter or taking part in hilarious slow motion gun fight in a warehouse where his bad leg seems to hilariously get better he is phenomenal in the role. Chloe annett sleep walks through her role, as do most of the actors and i think thats the main problem here because apart from bernard hill and norman wisdom (for the time he is in the film) the other actors and actresses just dont do much. So its a watchable film, but it whould have been a lot better off as a 2 part crime thriller on bbc or itv, thats the level we are at here people, a highlight for me was a ridiculously english drive by shooting where the gunmen open fire on 2 men from a bargeboat on a english river !!!!. If you do like the film another film to check out is the hilarious chris twemlow masterpiece (cough cough) the 1983 film that is g.b.h. that film is the bees knees and makes this film look like citizen kane, you have been warned.

I ordered this purely and simply to see the much missed British great in a serious role. As a production, it suffers from the usual problems associated with a low budget, it looks very cheap and nasty. It starts off as a very interesting story, but soon turns into a cheap gangster thriller, with a plot more fitting to a film from the 1940's. Even the likes of Simon Ward and Bernard Hill cannot help save it, Norman Wisdom is the only saving grace, he is delightful as the tragic Clutten. The best moment is the car chase, which looks really rather good, but sadly it's downhill from there on. I know it's 1992, but it looks like it was filmed on a camcorder.

The ending, is terrible. 5/10

Why do some reviewers stupidly tell u the whole story of the film? . Stick to watchable, didn't enjoy it, great movie, etc u know who you are!

It was ok , done!