Review of Shallow Grave (1994) by Jeff H — 13 Dec 2010

In Danny Boyle's first movie, three repulsive flatmates get their hands on a suitcase full of money, its owner having freshly died in their spare room. They elect to bury the body, tell nobody about it and pocket the fortune. And really, if you can't see where all this is heading then you must never have seen a film before, and incidentally may I recommend Back To The Future?

It's not that Shallow Grave is boring. Danny Boyle's direction ensures that every second of it has momentum. It's just that you firstly don't care about the three berks the story spins (often literally) around, and secondly that we all know they're not going to cross the film's finish line with arms linked in friendship, so it's no interesting twist when they don't. It's a seen-it-all-before premise, complete with cliches such as the improbably clever detective who just knows the main characters dunnit, and acts all smug and coy with them in interview. Groan.

Speaking of smug, all the dialogue - every word of it - sounds like dialogue rather than real speech. This is probably because Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston and Kerri Fox are playing such unfeasibly detestable, and as such unbelievable main characters. I wanted the film to end with the lot of them getting dumped in a pit of snakes, and so scenes of our heroes getting their legs broken by thugs - who were looking for the giant pile of money, which is a somewhat obvious consequence to overlook when stealing it - filled me with satisfaction, rather than horror. Hit them again, fellas.

This is no doubt meant to be a guilty pleasure, as we revel in the naughty doings of bad people and see them get their comeuppance anyway - having our moral cake and eating it. After all, it's a fallacy that all characters have to be nice for us to be interested in them. But there's a big difference between the tragic losers of Trainspotting and these three unbelievable, unbearable tossers. We must be able to secretly imagine ourselves in their place, and for that there needs to be a shred of empathy peeking through somewhere. Without the aid of an electron microscope, I fear I won't find it.

Boyle's direction is probably the most memorable thing about the film, buzzing with energy from start to finish, but it's a mixed blessing. Your attention is yanked all too frequently towards the way this is shot, which just makes the characters even harder to invest in. And for all the accomplished angles and edits, the thing hums with the brash showy-offness of a student project. Look how this shot is framed! Marvel as I steal that gravedigging shot from Goodfellas! Hoot as I throw in a gratuitous boob shot, that's okay because there's also a penis and a bottom later on!

Shallow Grave provides several cheap shocks, most of them glimpses of actors naked. The cast do their best with the pointless morality tale, and for its empty sins, it's fairly exciting in places. But it's a long ninety minutes, and when one of these bozos wins out against the other two, unlike Rent Boy from Trainspotting, it's difficult to cheer them on. And I don't care how morally challenging it is, no cheers, no point.