Sunday, July 8, 2012

DVD Review: London Boulevard (William Monahan, 2010)

London Boulevard has a scheduled DVD release in Australia on July 18.

London Boulevard, based on a novel by Irish hard-boiled and crime fiction writer Ken Bruen, is the directorial debut of William Monahan, the Academy Award winning screenwriter of The Departed. While it covers similar territory to many gangster thrillers (Martin Scorsese's The Departed and Guy Ritchie's Rock and Rolla come to mind), this stylish British effort has plenty of brutal flourish and violent unpredictability and a credible protagonist to impress admires of the genre. It boasts some strong performances from a veteran British cast, and effectively conveys the brutal intrigue of the London criminal underworld and one man’s urge for redemption.


Mitchel (Colin Farrell) is a small-time ex-gangster who has just served a three-year sentence for “grievous bodily harm”. Despite wanting to make fresh start, Mitchel is met by his old friend, Billy (Ben Chaplin), given a dodgy residence and finds himself accompanying Billy on debt collections for Billy’s boss, Gant (Ray Winstone).Gant, impressed by Mitchel’s poise, repeatedly tries to convince Mitchel to come work for him. Despite having no intention on getting back into the business, Gant fears that Mitchel will one day take him down and will stop at nothing to have this ruthless hard man on his side.

At the same time Mitchel takes on a respectable job as a bodyguard/handyman for a retired actress named Charlotte (Keira Knightley, portraying a character that somewhat resembles her own career in film), whose tumultuous private life and loss of interest in her profession (playing a female victim and continually asked to ‘get her kit off’ in European films) has made her the focus of obsessive paparazzi and is now a recluse inside her home. She objects to being photographed, but her image is found on billboards across the city. Somewhat unfathomably, paparazzi are perched on neighbours balconies overlooking her mansion firing profanities at anyone coming and going. Accompanying Charlotte in her lair is her agoraphobic business manager, Jordan (David Thewlis, excellent), a pothead and former actor.

There are several other subplots that initially build quite a complex foundation to chronicle Mitchel’s story, but ultimately convolute the plot. Some are left unresolved and in a few cases, could have been left out altogether. Mitchel’s mentally unbalanced younger sister, Briony (Anna Friel), is an alcoholic suffering from bipolar disease. He tries in vain to take care of her. He also reunites with a homeless man, and when he is killed by some local youths Mitchel seeks out one of Gant’s associates (Stephen Graham) to help track down the kids responsible. This ultimately leads back to Gant, and things run afoul.



London Boulevard remains compelling thanks to the strong performances from a straight-faced Farrell, and veterans Chaplin (a slimy low-life) Thewliss, and Winstone. Mitchel is a hardened ex-street thug with more than half a brain, whose sentence has altered his whole philosophy on life. He is desperate to keep clear of his past but it is clear he will never surrender the capacity to commit violence, despite his stoic and mannered exterior. Farrell adds plenty of subtle touches to his character; wry smiles to tense situations and is convincingly in control at all times, even in opposition to Winstone's intimidating frame.

Gant, who spews profanity in nearly every line of dialogue, is an unpredictable presence. Watching Winstone and Farrell go head-to-head is a thrill. Keira Knightley, an actress I usually find very annoying, was actually well suited here, and there are some sweet scenes shared between her and Farrell. Her character is given some complexity when we learn that aside from being an actress who puts herself through agonizing on-screen trauma, may have actually been raped on a recent visit to Italy. Her ‘retirement’ is big news. She finds comfort in the presence of Mitchel, but his troubles with Gant arrive on her doorstep.


The film's strength lies in the colourful characters and the veteran cast has crafted some entertaining personalities. It is less successful in telling a compelling tale, because it feels too familiar – despite the intriguing superstar actress angle – and includes too many subplots. Gant's gang consists of him and Billy and a couple of other thugs who stand at Gant's shoulder and have one or two lines of dialogue, which is disappointing. Some of the scenes also feel awkwardly staged, and I wasn’t wrapt in the ending. But, Monahan’s slick dialogue, and his stylistic choices (including a catchy British punk rock soundtrack, and some terrific night cinematography from Chris Menges) only enhanced the experience, and this is worth a look on rental.

DVD Extras: theatrical trailer and interviews with the cast (Farrell, Knightley, Winstone, Friel, Chaplin, Thewlis)

My Rating: ★★★

14 comments:

  1. I love films with character-driven stories, and this one sounds right up my alley. I am also intrigued by the prospect of seeing Colin Farrell and Kiera Knightly onscreen together. Thanks for the terrific review and for piquing my interest in this movie. :-)

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    1. Thanks for reading Stephanie. For once I actually liked Keira Knightley on screen and Colin Farrell was excellent. If you get the chance to see it, I hope you enjoy it. It is familiar, but Farrell's character is strong enough to warrant telling this story, if only just.

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  2. This sounds pretty good! And Anna Friel is in this one...I really love her, she should be in more films. Definetly gonna try to see this one.

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    1. Anna Friel was good, though a little underused. I did question the need for her involvement actually. I have never seen her in a role before. I look forward to seeing her in more.

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  3. Glad you liked it, Andy. And glad you liked Keira in it (I'm always happy when Keira gets a little love for her acting). This one just didn't work so much for me, aside from Anna Friel. I thought she was the best part. I liked the idea of it but it felt too rushed to me (the relationship between Farrell and Keira, for example, basically being cultivated over a couple of scenes) to convince.

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    1. You make a very good point. That was hard to accept. I can't believe I am saying this, but I like Knightley haha.

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  4. This film is a bit of a mess, but it is definitely worth a look. The cast is good, but Farrell gives the best performance. I thought it was right on par with his performance in In Bruges.

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    1. I dont think it topped In Bruges but i admit he was good.

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  5. I'm part of the "I wanted to like it more" sentiment, and I did like the cast, but this film might not urge me to rewatch it - if it's on the telly, maybe, but then again, I might pass it up waiting for another time. The IN BRUGES comparison is well-noted, too, but also 1961's BLAST OF SILENCE and Cagney's strong 1950's KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE get nods towards a Contemplations About Life After Crime.

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    1. I haven't even seen those films you mentioned and the premise here felt familiar. It had some nice night visuals and was quite a seedy look at the London criminal underbelly. I liked Farrell's mannered performance. I think he has great charisma.

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  6. Nice review here... this flick completely fell off my radar (mostly because I remember it getting moderately panned by mainstream critics), but I definitely want to give it a go.

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    1. Not an essential, but if you spot it in your local video store give it a go.

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  7. LONDON BOULEVARD makes for a fairly competent if somewhat minor entry in the annals of gangster films. I suspect that some aspect of the frenetic nature might be due to it being Monahan's first directing job, which would account for the way some aspects of the film come off as a just a bit too incidental. He does have a gift for dialogue witticism and I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he's good with actors for there's hardly an expressly bad performance in the lot.


    As a somewhat aside: Your "portraying a character that somewhat resembles her own career in film" intrigues me". How do you figure?

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    1. As far as I know, Keira has never been a recluse or retired from acting/modelling so that wasn't what I recognized, but early in her career, she took her clothes off quite often and became somewhat notorious for it. My reference was more linked to that.

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