Rancid Aluminium

it could only be two reasons; 1, you're here because you've seen a single, somewhat dog-eared, copy of rancid alu in your local woolworth's for the last hundred years and you're wondering if, yes, maybe you should buy it. how bad could it be? 2, secondly, you're here because you've seen it (probably on c4 the other night) and, being so utterly bewildered by the following; a, it got released. b, actors read the script and signed up. c, someone, somewhere at a studio gave it the go ahead. d, (AND MAINLY) you were thrown by a plot that made so little sense, a film so badly made and where none of the ideas (it's unjust to call these premises ideas really) made any sense or worked at all. ahem, so being so bewildered, you thought there was a deeper meaning, something you missed or didn't get that made it worthwhile. you didn't, it really was that bad.

Pete Thompson's father dies and leaves him the whole business. However his friend and business accountant, Sean Deeny, reveals that the business is in major trouble with the taxman. To get past the problem Sean and Pete go into business with the Russian mafia. However Pete has other plans to get rich, while Sean just wants to have kids and have a quiet life.

In the past few years the spate of British gangster films has been very much one of copies of `Lock Stock' etc. Some of them manage to be different and clever enough to work, but many are poor copies that lack any style or substance. Unfortunately for my evening, Rancid Aluminium falls within the latter category. The plotting is very poor, it is rambling and has nothing resembling tension or gripping narrative. In essence it is a short film with all the scenes stretched out to longer than they can sustain. The end result is a loose mess of a plot that doesn't really hang together at all.

The film can't manage the style of Lock, Stock – instead it feels forced, maybe this was the director's first film – it certain feels like he is trying to impress someone with old ideas that are fresh to him. The script also fails to really bring any characters out, instead they are pretty much all flat clichés. Now, I know the same is true of those in Lock, Stock and Snatch, but at least these had some redemption by being funny and tongue in cheek at points. Here that is pretty much not the case with any of the characters. Ifans makes good effort but is hampered by the script, he is the best of a poor bunch. Fiennes is awful, no sooner had he got the perfect career springboard in `Shakespeare in Love' then he does this. His accent is awful and his overall performance is weak. Fitzgerald, Frost and Behr all just line up to be naked and have their sex scenes. It is slightly degrading to see the film be so unimaginative that it just has regular sex scenes to keep the audience interested. Berkoff and Allen are hammy and pretty pointless.

Overall this film has few if any redeeming qualities. Any it does have are because it copied it from other, better films. It is full of nonsense that the director mistook for style or modern wit. A real waste of time and effort.

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Rancid Aliminium,like most gangster type films of it's ilk,did,of course,have the potential to be great.There are some intriguing and exciting new ideas to be explored here,but unfor -tunately,they are mostly squandered by what is mostly the film's biggest downfall,the frenetic and ill-explored pace at which it sets itself into action.It seems like a hodgepodge of ideas from each of the different genres:Comedy,thriller,Gangster Movie,action,all of which are concocted together at various different points to make up for a confusing and too fast paced for it's own good story.Most of the performances were very disappointing too:Rhys Ifans,in the lead role,was the best thing on offer,obviously trying to make his role stand out more than it could have,maybe even taking sympathy on the over zealous screenwriter so that his electric work could not fail ('I was obviously born to mow lawns ,and look after goldfish!')

But Josepth Fiennes emerged as routinely cold as his villainous brother,not really standing out as to why he was any worse than Rhys,whilst Sadie Frost as a russian bad girl babe clearly thought she was starring in the new James Bond film.

The title did'nt make an awful lot of sense,either.

And yet,as ever,any IMDB members who are situated in Britain like me who play the national lottery know exactly who is ultimately responsible for the making of this kind of film:us.**

This is a film that had a lot to live down to . on the year of its release legendary film critic Barry Norman considered it the worst film of the year and I'd heard nothing but bad things about it especially a plot that was criticised for being too complicated

To be honest the plot is something of a red herring and the film suffers even more when the word " plot " is used because as far as I can see there is no plot as such . There's something involving Russian gangsters , a character called Pete Thompson who's trying to get his wife Sarah pregnant , and an Irish bloke called Sean . How they all fit into something called a " plot " I'm not sure . It's difficult to explain the plots of Guy Ritchie films but if you watch any of his films I'm sure we can all agree that they all posses one no matter how complicated they may seem on first viewing . Likewise a James Bond film though the plots are stretched out with action scenes . You will have a serious problem believing RANCID ALUMINIUM has any type of central plot that can be cogently explained

Taking a look at the cast list will ring enough warning bells as to what sort of film you'll be watching . Sadie Frost has appeared in some of the worst British films made in the last 15 years and she's doing nothing to become inconsistent . Steven Berkoff gives acting a bad name ( and he plays a character called Kant which sums up the wit of this movie ) while one of the supporting characters is played by a TV presenter presumably because no serious actress would be seen dead in this

The only good thing I can say about this movie is that it's utterly forgettable . I saw it a few days ago and immediately after watching I was going to write a very long a critical review warning people what they are letting themselves in for by watching , but by now I've mainly forgotten why . But this doesn't alter the fact that I remember disliking this piece of crap immensely

Quite frankly I thought I was alone in having seen this appalling movie. Words almost fail me as to how truly dreadful it is. I left the cinema fuming with anger - having been robbed of two hours of my life.

In some senses it is truly remarkable; it has absolutely no redeeming features - whatsoever... incomprehensible plot, wooden acting, awful direction, dreadful script, baffling editing... it is difficult to know wehre to stop....

Often I would say, watch it and make up your own mind. But quite honestly, I wouldn't wish this movie on anyone. It would be funny if it wasn't so buttock-clenchingly awful.

Now for its good points... Nope. Can't think of a single solitary one.

Now for the love of God, run like the wind if somone offers to show it you.