Somewhere, deep down, there still is a great movie hidden here. It had
all of the right ingredients in it to become a great crime movie, done
in a very typical raw British style but the movie as it turned was
still mostly a disappointing one.
Reason why the movie isn't as good as it potential could had been is
because it's lacking focus and is trying to do and tell far too many
things. The movie features simply far too many different plot lines and
characters in it, which are all really fine, if only they were being
the basis of a different and separate movie on their own.
The movie is being drama about a guy trying to settle in again, after
being released from jail but it's also a crime movie, that features a
very crime-like and thriller type of plot in it. And if that wasn't
enough already; it also tries to be a romantic movie. There is never
really a right balance between any of these different aspects, which
makes this a very uneven movie, that also doesn't really work out the
way it was supposed to because of all of this.
Especially the romantic plot line suffered from this. In the movie
there was absolutely no reason for the Colin Farrell and the Keira
Knightley to fall in love with each other. Which was odd, since they
still seemed to have some good chemistry together. The movie however
never makes it seem believable or logical and you even wonder why it's
in the movie at all, since it doesn't even seem to be all that
important for the movie and its main story, once you really start
thinking back about it.
It still is a great movie with some great actors and acting in it.
Keira Knightley plays mostly herself and she actually is hardly in the
movie at all, so she doesn't impress all that much but Colin Farrell on
the other hand is truly great in this. The movie also has a truly great
supporting cast, with actors such as David Thewlis, Ray Winstone and
Ben Chaplin all involved.
The thing that also helped to save the movie, was the fact that this
remains a very well made film. It has a good style to it and also
nothing wrong with its storytelling. It just is the story itself that
isn't all that great because it tries too hard to impress, with as many
different ideas in it as possible. Still a valiant attempt by writer
turned director William Monahan and I'm still very interested in seeing
more movies done by him. I'm sure that if he continues to do more
movies as a director, he will become more successful at it and has the
capability to make some really great crime movies. A genre that
obviously suits him well, despite the fact that this movie is still
mostly being somewhat of a disappointment and just not entirely
successful enough at what it's all trying to achieve.
It really had far more potential in it.
6/10
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