Review of The Guvnors (2014) by Stuart B — 30 Aug 2014

Its no secret that when in 2013 I first heard about a project called The Guvnors, I figured it was headed to be a pretty low budget UK crime drama, perhaps it would be about a crime family, perhaps another football violence movie. (nothing wrong with any of those guesses, low budget isn't bad, I love crime family dramas, and I have a few football violence movies on my DVD shelf even though I am not a football fan)Then came the trailer.

Thats when I realised that I really was way off base with my initial article posted last year. On all counts.

Opening with a scene that very much unnerved and shocked the viewer, its with this appearance of a battle scarred Adam (Harley Sylvester) that we are totally assured that 'The Guvnors' isnt a tale of how wonderful the world is, or how everyone is nice to each other. We are dropped firmly in the world where violence exists and knows no boundaries. This opening scene sets the film up perfectly and reminds us of things we read in the paper every few days.

So is 'The Guvnors' about Adam, well yes and no. Because we are also shown the world of 'The Guvnors' through the eyes of Mitch (Doug Allen) who has put down his violent past and carved himself out a somewhat 'normal' family life with his wife and young son, who we also get an insight into as he discovers who he is but also learns who his father used to be.

This is where the absolute genius of 'The Guvnors' shines brighter, taking us into a multi generational trip showing us the world on many levels, from child to young adult, to adult, to pensioner. All tying the story threads up brilliantly in its 95 or so minutes. There isnt a single frame or second of film here that isnt needed to drive the story or the characters and when you get to the end of the film and think "Damn I want another 90 minutes of this" then that perhaps is the best review someone can give for a film.

There arent many films where you see an entire cast that is excellent. Not one single person out of place and not one line spoken where you think 'oh, that went wrong' I wont go through the list of the entire cast, You can see them for yourself by checking out the IMDB page.

Two performances that I have to talk about. Are that of Harley Sylvester (playing the role of Adam) and Charley Palmer Merkell (who played the role of Trey).

The performance awards belong to these two guys. Charley is scary beyond belief, in a sort of way you'd cross the road to avoid walking past him in case a glance or a nod was taken the wrong way and he would bring you down in a second. Ive met people like Trey and he nailed it to absolute perfection, tip toeing the line between psychotic and calculating.

I remember thinking "Charley Merkell has gone one hell of a future ahead" whilst watching the film, and then this morning I see that he is currently filming Legend with Tom Hardy.

Now lets move onto Harley Sylvester. Again I am not going to shy away from sharing my thoughts previous to watching 'The Guvnors' When I heard that one half of music act Rizzle Kicks was going to be in the film. Yes I did cringe. However, me cringing at a casting choice isnt something that would ever put me off watching a film. So I went into 'The Guvnors' with a blank mind. Once again, I was wrong. Harley Sylvester was mindblowing in the role of Adam. Sporting a very painful looking scar down his face, Adam is without a doubt a character that will go down in the British film legend list, alongside Noel Clarke in Kidulthood/Adulthood.

Harley plays the role to its maximum, showing us that he is both feared, but also showing that he might just be the person he is because thats what life has made him, he has been crafted that way to survive and protect his family and friends. So often in films we see cardboard cut-out 'villains' Adam isnt one of those and in certain scenes we (or at least I ) felt sympathy for him.

Its easily in my Top 10 of the year so far, and Id like to thank everyone involved in that film for proving me wrong when I figured that 'The Guvnors' would be another typical run of the mill urban drama made on a small budget. Thank you for proving me wrong. Now heres to 'The Guvnors 2'.