Review of London Boulevard (2010) by Jim A — 08 Dec 2010

There is certain ... sameness to British gangster movies: dark humour, great soundtrack, a large dose of grit, Guy Ritchie.... Which is why a non-Ritchie London Boulevard, directed by William Monahan (the writer behind The Departed and Edge of Darkness) was promising to be fresh and different; but having seen it I think I still prefer the old stuff. I didn't think it was a bad film, but there's nothing that it does exceptionally well either.

The screenplay has a little too much going on; I didn't think Monahan accomplished what he appeared to set out to accomplish in the film's beginning. I don't particularly mind graphic violence or foul language in films, and racism on the big screed rarely offends me, but in London Boulevard it all feels a tad overdone and unnecessary. It's almost as if Monahan is pilfering ideas from other people's famous films but forgetting that his film is not set in the 80s.

However, London Boulevard benefits from a superb cast: Colin Farrell, Keira Knightly, David Thewlis, Ray Winstone, Anna Friel. The cast is utilised reasonably well, except for maybe Anna Friel, whose character pops in and out of the movie at random times for no apparent reason. David Thewlis made this film for me ... "It's a beautiful day, if you like that sort of thing". The music score is also very good. Whilst London Calling might have been an overly obvious choice, this does not make it a bad one. The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and The Yardbirds all feature in the soundtrack.

All in all, London Boulevard is miles away from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but I did not find it much worse than, say, RocknRolla.