Review of Shallow Grave (1994) by Patrick E — 04 Jul 2010

Shallow Grave is the big screen debut from acclaimed director Danny Boyle and is itself quite a critically acclaimed film. As for why it's held in such high regard, I have no idea. It's by no means a bad film, in fact it's reasonably entertaining, but it could only be described as an average thriller at best.

The plot revolves around three room mates living in a huge apartment in what looks like Edinburgh. Since they have a spare room, they decide to rent it out to get a little extra money. After only one day of living with their new room mate, he kills himself and leaves a suitcase full of money in the room. After a few days thought, the three of them decide to dispose of the body and keep the money. Sadly for them the guilt becomes a little much and things spiral out of control as well as a group of gangsters come sniffing around looking for the money back.

It's an excellent premise as there is ample opportunity to explore different themes such as trust, guilt, friendship etc but none of these are explored; instead Boyle goes for a straight thriller that is pretty bland. The thriller aspect would have been good if there was any actual action or suspense but as soon as the gangsters show up they are gone again and the three main characters are so annoying you don't really care what happens to them. Ewan McGregor as the philosophical one is particularly annoying as he constantly talks rubbish for the duration of the film and Kerry Fox as the female lead desperately needs some acting lessons. Christopher Ecclestone's character is by far the most interesting as he is the one that suffers from guilt the most and slowly begins to lose his mind by becoming increasingly paranoid. Again though this theme isn't explored enough, the only real indication of his guilt is shown by how he locks himself in the apartment's attic. The ending is a little disappointing as well as the story is not enough close to being wrapped up and you are left wondering if the characters got away with their plan or not.

In the end Shallow Grave is a vaguely interesting thriller that could have been a great character study on guilt and trust but is instead a frustrating thriller. It's worth a watch as it does manage to keep your attention and offers some light entertainment but will leave you frustrated at what it could have been.