Review of Filth (2013) by Peter C — 02 Oct 2013
Bent cop who will stop at nothing to get one over on his colleagues, get his leg over, get out of his face on drugs and drink, get a kick out of disparaging those less fortunate than himself, get over his demons, his past, his ex, how shit his love life and life in general is ... you get the gist.
Surreal, silly and unashamedly superficial stuff played with relish and glee by an excellent cast, most notably McAvoy who is deliciously splendid - the ultimate likeable rogue.
The fourth wall is not merely broken, it is blown to smithereens. With lots of straight to camera knowing looks, smirks and winks. And a few LSD-inspired flights of fancy, most notably the closing credits.
The only downfall (and it is a big one) is that when it tries to get all serious, it fails.
Why? Because all of the performances are larger than life and cartoonish, the action is largely OTT rather than naturalistic, and so when it tries to go all method acting and get a bit heavy (touching on issues such as the death of a brother, marital breakdown and existential angst), it doesn't matter how great an actor McAvoy is, how great a performance he puts in and how emotionally manipulative the score becomes (think Lassie) , we simply do not care. Because ... we want more filth!
Grumbles aside: a firm crowd pleaser, a bit of a teaser, and an enjoyable romp in the company of a rough diamond geezer.
3/5.
This review of Filth (2013) was written by Peter C on 02 Oct 2013.
Filth has generally received positive reviews.
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