Review of Wild Bill (2011) by Christopher H — 23 Mar 2012
I had no expectations of Dexter Fletcher's directorial debut, other than it would probably be one of those Guy Richie wannabes that died a miserable, but necessary, death a decade ago. I was wrong.
This is fact is a confident, mature drama about an ostensibly bad guy who has just been released after eight prison and wants to turn over a new leaf, but it's not as easy as he hoped. Family, enemies and history get in the way, though if Bill's wildness reappears he'll go down for a very long time.
Fletcher's film is extremely contemporary - a London awash in Olympic money and hope but mired in poverty, gang violence and vice. Performances are excellent across the board, though special kudos to Charlie Creed-Miles for his titular performance, alternating between doe-eyed regret and barely coiled rage.
A short scene in a lift, as Wild Bill threatens to reappear, gives everything REVOLVER was incapable of delivering. Constantly interesting and tense, with moments of levity that are genuinely funny, WILD BILL is a class act and much much better than you have any right to expect.
This review of Wild Bill (2011) was written by Christopher H on 23 Mar 2012.
Wild Bill has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
