FILM REVIEW - OUTLAW - 15/01/07
Region 2 DVD cover*This comment does contain some plot spoilers*
Soldier Danny Bryant (Sean Bean) returns home from serving in the Iraq war to find that his wife has found another man. He becomes disillusioned with what is happening around him such as drug crimes, rape and murder. Meanwhile, barrister Cedric Monroe (Lennie James) is prosecuting a drug baron called Terry Manning and he is threatened by one of his righthand men, Ian Furlong, who tells him to walk away from the case or his pregnant wife will die, which happens. A young office worker called Gene Dekker (Danny Dyer) is beaten up in a road rage incident while politics student, Sandy Mardell (Rupert Friend), was attacked by a gang of yobs and left with severe scarring to his face. Bryant unable to enter his home since his wife changed the locks takes a room in a cheap hotel where the Chief of Security, Simon Hillier (Sean Harris), happens to know Monroe since he defended him in court for a minor offence a few years ago. In addition, Hillier went to school with Dekker and through his acquaintance with these people, they all join forces with Bryant in order to punish the people who wronged them using violence. An old school copper in the form of Walter Lewis (Bob Hoskins) has discovered Bryant's activities since he put a homing device on Monroe, which was easy since Lewis has been charged with escorting the barrister, a high risk prosecutor, to and from court. Lewis arranges a meeting with the Iraq war veteran and tells him that he wishes to join forces with him since he has become disillusioned with his job in that after twenty-five years on the force they have relegated him to picking up CCTV footage and driving barristers to and from court simply because he "played it by the book". Added to that, an elderly woman was set on fire by a group of thugs and he felt that his superiors brushed it aside worried only about the "paperwork". Therefore he agrees to provide Bryant's gang with information regarding the whereabouts of members of Manning's gang using his insider knowledge of police records. The Outlaws as they have been dubbed by the media carry out a series of brutal attacks on members of Manning's gang. But it soon transpires that Lewis's superior, Grieves (George Anton), is corrupt and is well in with Manning and the crooked pair learn that Lewis has been supplying information to the gang so Furlong murders Lewis and using the CCTV footage of Bryant, which Lewis had thoughtfully kept hidden away from the police, Manning and Grieves put Bryant in the frame for their own killing. Therefore Bryant elects to dissolve his gang and the Outlaws go about their normal lives since there is no evidence to connect them with the attacks they committed. However, they find it impossible to try and lead a normal life as if nothing happened and deep down they still want to nail Manning. Eventually they regroup with Bryant who is now a wanted man to finish the job they set out to do. Manning's corrupt relations with Grieves has seen the case against him collapse and he has been allowed to walk away a free man. Through a tip-off from a work colleague, Dekker learns that Manning is now living on a country estate in Essex. The Outlaws infiltrate his estate with the view of killing him, will they succeed or have Manning and Grieves boxed clever and anticipated their arrival?
Despite rather plodding direction and a slow pace (patience is required to sit through its sometimes draggy 100 minute running time); Outlaw is nevertheless a brilliantly acted and written British thriller, which deals with a current concern within our society - yob culture and how people feel let down by the system. It proves once and for all that noteworthy films are still being produced in the UK. Sean Bean is on top form as the Iraq war veteran who decides to take the law into his own hands due to his anger at the corruption going on around him adding that some will just sit there and take whereas he has the guts to fight back. He comes across as genuinely world weary and tough and is very believable in the a part which gave him a lot more to do after his lacklustre roles in two rather mediocre horror films, The Dark and the video game spin-off Silent Hill. Nick Love's screenplay asks us to question whether The Outlaws' actions can be justified by the fact that they are attacking those who the law seemingly cannot touch. There's a little scene where a newsflash is being shown on the plasma screens of London's major railway stations and airports with hundreds of people looking detailing an account of how Bryant and co took money off a group of well known drug dealers but blundered it badly by allowing the money to sprew out the back of their get away van. "Do you see them as mindless outlaws or heroes?" the newsreader asks the nation's viewers. In addition, the film deals with corruption within the police force like when Lewis's superior, Grieves twigs that the gang of vigilantes are getting support within the force and he tales the public that "It is our duty to bring police corruption to justice" yet he is extremely corrupt himself in that he is in cohoots with the drug baron, Terry Manning, and between them engineer the death of Lewis and ultimately bring down the gang of vigilantes fearing for his own neck and arranging the case against Manning to collapse. The settings have genuine authenticity and all the performances are first rate throughout and aside from Sean Bean, Lennie James, Danny Dyer and Rupert Friend who are entirely convincing in their roles as the vigilantes. They are all contrasting characters. For instance, Bryant comes across as the hardman of the group whereas the barrister Cedric Monroe is reluctant to commit acts of violence even though his wife was brutally murdered and Bryant sort of winds him up into doing it. For instance, there is a scene in a bar where the gang go for a drink and Monroe goes to buy a round of drinks. He accidentally bumps into a guy causing his drink to fall and the glass break. The guy in question attempts to pick a fight by calling him a racist name. Monroe being the quiet and retiring guy he is grins and bears it but then Bryant goes over and pushes back ordering the guy and his pals outside to fight the matter out. Yet despite all of Bryant's tough guy bravado, he also shows signs of weakness like when they abduct Furlong from his bail hostel and set him up with a noose around his neck ready to be hanged, Bryant finds himself unable to commit murder and they cut him down and later it is this weak streak that partly leads to his downfall. Bob Hoskins is suitably down-to-earth as the veteran policeman whose dissillusioned with the job and the violence and thuggery is suitably brutal and in your face and there are some unexpected plot twists a long the way, which seem more akin to the typical far fetched big screen suspense thrillers so this does rest uneasily with the realistic feel that the movie is going for.
Overall, Outlaw, is highly recommended though you may find the slow pace heavy going at times but this is forgivable since by large it packs a punch and raises valid points about the problems of crime and yob culture in our modern day society. For once the characters are interesting rather than seeming like part of the furniture at the mercy of a barrage of special effects which is all too often nowadays.
Soldier Danny Bryant (Sean Bean) returns home from serving in the Iraq war to find that his wife has found another man. He becomes disillusioned with what is happening around him such as drug crimes, rape and murder. Meanwhile, barrister Cedric Monroe (Lennie James) is prosecuting a drug baron called Terry Manning and he is threatened by one of his righthand men, Ian Furlong, who tells him to walk away from the case or his pregnant wife will die, which happens. A young office worker called Gene Dekker (Danny Dyer) is beaten up in a road rage incident while politics student, Sandy Mardell (Rupert Friend), was attacked by a gang of yobs and left with severe scarring to his face. Bryant unable to enter his home since his wife changed the locks takes a room in a cheap hotel where the Chief of Security, Simon Hillier (Sean Harris), happens to know Monroe since he defended him in court for a minor offence a few years ago. In addition, Hillier went to school with Dekker and through his acquaintance with these people, they all join forces with Bryant in order to punish the people who wronged them using violence. An old school copper in the form of Walter Lewis (Bob Hoskins) has discovered Bryant's activities since he put a homing device on Monroe, which was easy since Lewis has been charged with escorting the barrister, a high risk prosecutor, to and from court. Lewis arranges a meeting with the Iraq war veteran and tells him that he wishes to join forces with him since he has become disillusioned with his job in that after twenty-five years on the force they have relegated him to picking up CCTV footage and driving barristers to and from court simply because he "played it by the book". Added to that, an elderly woman was set on fire by a group of thugs and he felt that his superiors brushed it aside worried only about the "paperwork". Therefore he agrees to provide Bryant's gang with information regarding the whereabouts of members of Manning's gang using his insider knowledge of police records. The Outlaws as they have been dubbed by the media carry out a series of brutal attacks on members of Manning's gang. But it soon transpires that Lewis's superior, Grieves (George Anton), is corrupt and is well in with Manning and the crooked pair learn that Lewis has been supplying information to the gang so Furlong murders Lewis and using the CCTV footage of Bryant, which Lewis had thoughtfully kept hidden away from the police, Manning and Grieves put Bryant in the frame for their own killing. Therefore Bryant elects to dissolve his gang and the Outlaws go about their normal lives since there is no evidence to connect them with the attacks they committed. However, they find it impossible to try and lead a normal life as if nothing happened and deep down they still want to nail Manning. Eventually they regroup with Bryant who is now a wanted man to finish the job they set out to do. Manning's corrupt relations with Grieves has seen the case against him collapse and he has been allowed to walk away a free man. Through a tip-off from a work colleague, Dekker learns that Manning is now living on a country estate in Essex. The Outlaws infiltrate his estate with the view of killing him, will they succeed or have Manning and Grieves boxed clever and anticipated their arrival?
Despite rather plodding direction and a slow pace (patience is required to sit through its sometimes draggy 100 minute running time); Outlaw is nevertheless a brilliantly acted and written British thriller, which deals with a current concern within our society - yob culture and how people feel let down by the system. It proves once and for all that noteworthy films are still being produced in the UK. Sean Bean is on top form as the Iraq war veteran who decides to take the law into his own hands due to his anger at the corruption going on around him adding that some will just sit there and take whereas he has the guts to fight back. He comes across as genuinely world weary and tough and is very believable in the a part which gave him a lot more to do after his lacklustre roles in two rather mediocre horror films, The Dark and the video game spin-off Silent Hill. Nick Love's screenplay asks us to question whether The Outlaws' actions can be justified by the fact that they are attacking those who the law seemingly cannot touch. There's a little scene where a newsflash is being shown on the plasma screens of London's major railway stations and airports with hundreds of people looking detailing an account of how Bryant and co took money off a group of well known drug dealers but blundered it badly by allowing the money to sprew out the back of their get away van. "Do you see them as mindless outlaws or heroes?" the newsreader asks the nation's viewers. In addition, the film deals with corruption within the police force like when Lewis's superior, Grieves twigs that the gang of vigilantes are getting support within the force and he tales the public that "It is our duty to bring police corruption to justice" yet he is extremely corrupt himself in that he is in cohoots with the drug baron, Terry Manning, and between them engineer the death of Lewis and ultimately bring down the gang of vigilantes fearing for his own neck and arranging the case against Manning to collapse. The settings have genuine authenticity and all the performances are first rate throughout and aside from Sean Bean, Lennie James, Danny Dyer and Rupert Friend who are entirely convincing in their roles as the vigilantes. They are all contrasting characters. For instance, Bryant comes across as the hardman of the group whereas the barrister Cedric Monroe is reluctant to commit acts of violence even though his wife was brutally murdered and Bryant sort of winds him up into doing it. For instance, there is a scene in a bar where the gang go for a drink and Monroe goes to buy a round of drinks. He accidentally bumps into a guy causing his drink to fall and the glass break. The guy in question attempts to pick a fight by calling him a racist name. Monroe being the quiet and retiring guy he is grins and bears it but then Bryant goes over and pushes back ordering the guy and his pals outside to fight the matter out. Yet despite all of Bryant's tough guy bravado, he also shows signs of weakness like when they abduct Furlong from his bail hostel and set him up with a noose around his neck ready to be hanged, Bryant finds himself unable to commit murder and they cut him down and later it is this weak streak that partly leads to his downfall. Bob Hoskins is suitably down-to-earth as the veteran policeman whose dissillusioned with the job and the violence and thuggery is suitably brutal and in your face and there are some unexpected plot twists a long the way, which seem more akin to the typical far fetched big screen suspense thrillers so this does rest uneasily with the realistic feel that the movie is going for.
Overall, Outlaw, is highly recommended though you may find the slow pace heavy going at times but this is forgivable since by large it packs a punch and raises valid points about the problems of crime and yob culture in our modern day society. For once the characters are interesting rather than seeming like part of the furniture at the mercy of a barrage of special effects which is all too often nowadays.
posted by Michael Harris | 4:55 pm
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