Review of Ill Manors (2012) by Peter C — 04 Jul 2013

Watched a preview of the film Ill Manors earlier, directed and part scripted by the rapper Plan B.

It received several luke warm reviews, some of which I agree with (it's overly long, relentlessly harrowing and lacks subtlety), but overall I found myself drawn into the world of the characters and their environment.

Set in the sink estates of East London, in the shadows of the Olympic Stadium and Canary Wharf, it holds a mirror up to the uncompromising reality facing so many young boys and girls in the capital - gun crime, abduction, rape, prostitution, human trafficking, drug dealing, gang warfare - without ever glamorising or passing judgement on it.

It's obviously not what you would call a hoot (Dick Van Dyke doesn't make a cameo), nor a masterpiece; but a refreshing, authentic, albeit bleak counterweight to the Jason Statham cod cockney gangster flicks.

Plan B also wrote and performed several rap songs for the film, which serve to give back story to the characters and tie all the loose ends (of which there are many) together. So even if you find the subject matter and/or execution of the film hard going, you should at least appreciate the music.

And this coming from a guy who knows as much about rap as he does about ladies flowers!