Where do we start. If you really have nothing else to do, you could do worse.
Paul Tanter is an up and comer, but he is in danger of "pigeon holing" himself in this genre of gritty crime dramas. He is obviously talented and his past work with Simon Phillips and Nick Neverne is worthy of inspection. Phillips in particular was under used in the acting sense for this picture.
OK the story - Same old, same old. with a couple of extra twists, which if you believe the front cover/poster, will enlighten us as it is the "only true Essex Boys movie". If you do, you'll be disappointed. Some characters were depicted with their real names, other were complete falsehoods, like the poor girl who tragically died. I am sure that there are reasons why real names were not used.
Same format, different actors, apart from poor Kierston Wareing, who has now played Pat Tate's downtrodden lady in at least three films. Now Kierston is good, a very good actress, but she really must either live in Southend, close to the pier, or Alex Kingston sold the exclusive rights to the part, once she saw how bad Essex Boys turned out. Kierston, all that breeze coming off the North Sea is beginning to make your cheeks very rosy. Get inside and have a cup of hot tea!
The main protagonists - Jay Brown I like, but in this part (Tucker)he seems to have been told to walk around like he was in a Mr Universe pose-down. He is so much better than that. The script obviously did not allow him to play the part with the charisma of Terry Stone who played the part on a couple of previous occasions. Pete Barratt swears his way through the move, as all previous Tate incarnations have to do. Unfortunately he doesn't look the part, like the hulking Tamar Hassan or have the presence of the charismatic Craig Fairbrass who I think is best actor to capture this hoodlum. (although you could argue that Hassan and Fairbrass gave Tate a comedic turn also, however warped that sounds.)
The police detective was solid and Ewan Ross was believable. Unfortunately the scenes where he was the central character, gave him little to work with in terms of antagonist to converse with and develop his character more.
There must have been investment from someone and I love the fact that people are still investing in UK film. Maybe this was a tax break, because if I was a serious investor - I would be upset with my end product.
The story has been done and has been done better, much better. The worst of the films depicting this infamous story. It is time it was left alone now. I do not blame the actors. I blame a weak script and blasé production.
3/10 - Could do better, but please do not try with this story again please.
