An unusual style. To me the songs not good enough as a musical and the script too wordy with a dragging plot. Unfortunately didn't quite make it as either a musical or a 'crime drama'. The acting was good enough but the material didn't quite make it.
9 Reviews
All wanna know is if Troy lived.
RagnarBloodaxe13 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
My favorite part was the scene with the photographer. Other than that, the entire movie felt dragged out. The musical scenes did not captivate my mind. I know its a low budget score, but they could have done a bit better with the script.
nice try, but........................
cdcrb11 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Funny how things work out. I was expecting robert diniro/marlon brando and got will poulter/johnny flynn. Anyway, will and johnny are would be hoodlums on the way to collect some money, stashed away by will's brother before he was sent to the cooler. This is also a musical of sorts and johnny flynn wrote all the songs. It may have sounded like a good idea, but it doesn't work.
Maybe have "musical" as a genre for this?
TokyoGyaru23 December 2022
Though "music" is listed here (which could mean anything), I was not aware this was a musical before I started watching it. I simply thought, "Hey, there's that weird-looking guy with villainous brows and a pretty lady. The plot sounds okay, why not?"
And then their mouths started moving to the song (wasn't against the song, btw) and I went, "Wait, what?" I like a musical. But I like them better when I know beforehand that it's going to be a musical. The streaming service I'm watching this on doesn't even use the vague category of "music" to describe it, so it just seems like it's going to be a thriller.
Edit: So, I decided to give it another shot. Will Poulter and Naomi Ackie were enjoyable to watch. Will has a dumb kind of charm as this character (I hate to call him it that considering how often he's called "dumb"), and the two do a good job with portraying a tentative kind of chemistry. It seems an impossible situation because even 10,000£ isn't enough to do whatever. The Mike character is so hateable, just a miserable little man going around trying to make other people miserable. So, that actor did a good job as well.
But the singing...I either muted or fast-forwarded it. Very much unnecessary.
S/N: Why do British movies always have cheating in them? I watch so many British films and shows, and so many of them have a cheating plot or subplot. Maybe they don't realize, but it makes it seem like cheating is normal there.
And then their mouths started moving to the song (wasn't against the song, btw) and I went, "Wait, what?" I like a musical. But I like them better when I know beforehand that it's going to be a musical. The streaming service I'm watching this on doesn't even use the vague category of "music" to describe it, so it just seems like it's going to be a thriller.
Edit: So, I decided to give it another shot. Will Poulter and Naomi Ackie were enjoyable to watch. Will has a dumb kind of charm as this character (I hate to call him it that considering how often he's called "dumb"), and the two do a good job with portraying a tentative kind of chemistry. It seems an impossible situation because even 10,000£ isn't enough to do whatever. The Mike character is so hateable, just a miserable little man going around trying to make other people miserable. So, that actor did a good job as well.
But the singing...I either muted or fast-forwarded it. Very much unnecessary.
S/N: Why do British movies always have cheating in them? I watch so many British films and shows, and so many of them have a cheating plot or subplot. Maybe they don't realize, but it makes it seem like cheating is normal there.
A unique film, worth a watch for the experience
braxtontyler10 July 2022
I dislike most musicals, but every song in this was written and sung rather well by all the actors. The couple had an unusual chemistry that felt awkward, immature and yet quite natural given their supposed naive backstories. It's hard to fault a movie or show when Will Poulter is involved he really is intriguing to watch and made the film that much enjoyable with his comedic interactions with the other cafe customers.
Simply Horrendous
mcjensen-059242 April 2024
There's nothing worth watching or recommending here. The lead characters are atrocious and unlikeable. Both of them. The soundtrack is awful, against scenes making zero sense. Add some ridiculous dialogie with very bland, flat acting. The level of stupidity in the first 15 minutes should turn any discerning viewer away. When I saw the cast singing along to the opening music, which was the typical indie annoying pretentious drivel, I know I was in for a slog with this disaster. It's a plot done to death, but never as poorly as this one. Movies need coherence and logic, and there's none here. There's the obligatory black cast member too, of course. Rambling conversation to fill up scenes. Trust me, it's sloppy filth. I get that young people sing, but they don't sing folk music or the other lame tracks chosen for this movie. Considering what these dolts are about to do, they sure draw attention to themselves. Oh, it also dabbles ineffectively with social issues. Huge stinkeroo. I'd rather set myself on fire than endure this mess again.
well done all around(i HATE musicals)
yahs-way16 June 2022
You don't find movies done like this.
I put this on just to eat dinner, and ended up captivated by the dialog, subtle, clever, meaningful. This movie is never gonna please everyone and no musical has ever come off as "natural" but they kinda pulled it off(the songs are poems and they are meant to capture the characters internal fire). It's obviously done like a play(campy) and in the first couple minutes they talk about Shakespeare and poets.so you get the hint. Its one of those movies you might be embarrassed to get caught watching, if someone walked in during the singing but honestly, it was well directed(well acted, well shot) very well written and the story was quite captivating(the mystery of not knowing exactly what's going down) i didn't notice the pace being slow, i was too busy paying attention to the interactions of the players.
I'd say give it the fifteen minute test, if you don't like it, move along.
I put this on just to eat dinner, and ended up captivated by the dialog, subtle, clever, meaningful. This movie is never gonna please everyone and no musical has ever come off as "natural" but they kinda pulled it off(the songs are poems and they are meant to capture the characters internal fire). It's obviously done like a play(campy) and in the first couple minutes they talk about Shakespeare and poets.so you get the hint. Its one of those movies you might be embarrassed to get caught watching, if someone walked in during the singing but honestly, it was well directed(well acted, well shot) very well written and the story was quite captivating(the mystery of not knowing exactly what's going down) i didn't notice the pace being slow, i was too busy paying attention to the interactions of the players.
I'd say give it the fifteen minute test, if you don't like it, move along.
Original, thoughtful and refreshing
szureikat24 July 2022
I started passively watching and quickly got sucked in by the quirky characters and the fresh musical interludes. I don't usually like musicals but found myself singing along and looking forward to the next. The writing is intelligent and the style is original. The film moves slowly, but leaves much to savor.
a new kind of cinema?
anniemarshallster14 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Humphrey Bogart's High Sierra or The Petrified Forest never end well. Nor do Jane Greer's excursions. And that's just America. There's Europe too - Truffaut's Breathless or Shoot the Pianist (from David Goodis' Down There on a Visit). They don't end well either.
Little trips to the countryside undo the best laid plans, and Mike's plans were laid by Sally rather than by him and it shows.
He's a wannabe and a bit of a softie which he hides by growling and cursing at Troy his young sidekick and the growing relationship with Gloria.
Watch Gloria - she's the one, the Bette Davis, the survivor.
Troy is a surprise - an innocent but canny and very very fast on his feet.
There is of course a McGuffin - a bag of money. Everyone wants it but no one seems to want to take it away. Eventually it ends up in the hands of those who perhaps need it rather than want it.
Then there's the music. That's unusual - overlaid over film noir, it shouldn't but it does work. Johnny Flynn has enormous fun translating his music for new singers and providing little extras. Apart from set songs like IN THE DEEPEST, HARD ROAD and JEFFERSON'S TORCH, which are sung as and when appropriate, Troy and Gloria also do a version of BROWN TROUT BLUES together and CHANSON (new) is heard murmuring in the background via the radio. As the BFI notes say: '...the songs weren't telling the story, they were telling the emotional journey of the characters..." which is pretty well what Johnny Flynn's music does all the time.
There is other music of course - very reminiscent of Flynn's score for A BAG OF HAMMERS long ago - which ties the film together.
So I loved it - a musical, a heist, a love story and a British film noir - who could ask for anything more.
Malachi Smyth's first feature deserves respect but essentially it deserves to be seen. SO GO SEE IT.
Little trips to the countryside undo the best laid plans, and Mike's plans were laid by Sally rather than by him and it shows.
He's a wannabe and a bit of a softie which he hides by growling and cursing at Troy his young sidekick and the growing relationship with Gloria.
Watch Gloria - she's the one, the Bette Davis, the survivor.
Troy is a surprise - an innocent but canny and very very fast on his feet.
There is of course a McGuffin - a bag of money. Everyone wants it but no one seems to want to take it away. Eventually it ends up in the hands of those who perhaps need it rather than want it.
Then there's the music. That's unusual - overlaid over film noir, it shouldn't but it does work. Johnny Flynn has enormous fun translating his music for new singers and providing little extras. Apart from set songs like IN THE DEEPEST, HARD ROAD and JEFFERSON'S TORCH, which are sung as and when appropriate, Troy and Gloria also do a version of BROWN TROUT BLUES together and CHANSON (new) is heard murmuring in the background via the radio. As the BFI notes say: '...the songs weren't telling the story, they were telling the emotional journey of the characters..." which is pretty well what Johnny Flynn's music does all the time.
There is other music of course - very reminiscent of Flynn's score for A BAG OF HAMMERS long ago - which ties the film together.
So I loved it - a musical, a heist, a love story and a British film noir - who could ask for anything more.
Malachi Smyth's first feature deserves respect but essentially it deserves to be seen. SO GO SEE IT.
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