Brighton Rock (2010)

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Pinkie is a violent, dangerous member of a mini-gang, lead by Kite and operating in Brighton in 1964. The problem is that a larger and better organized gang is already "protecting" the city. Trouble erupts when Kite is killed by Hale, a member of the Colleoni big gang.Pinkie revenges his boss and mentor, but Colleoni is not too happy about Pinkie killing Hale and thinking of being at his level of organized crime. It does seems absurd that Pinkie's gang, composed by three members plus himself can expect to be taken seriously, but Pinkie is supposed to be a psycho, disconnected from reality.To protect himself Pinkie ends up marrying Rose, a Roman-Catholic like him who witnessed part of the Hale killing. Since a wife cannot testify against the husband, Pinkie thinks he got it made, without noticing that everything is already crumbling around him. The only way out is predictably bad.The Mod/Rockers battles make for an intriguing background, despite the unrelenting gloominess of the story. Some relief is given by John Hurt and Hellen Mirren, playing relatively glamorous roles in the unglam setting. The biggest let down is the soppy endingBefore I started reading the reviews, I found this a decent British gangsters story. However, it seems that every single reviewer felt compelled to compare this with the original 1947 movie or at least, mention the Greene novel and the lack of sufficient Catholic anguish.I am a cinephile, but I did not see the 1947 movie, nor feel the need to do so, just to compare it to this. Also, I am familiar with Greene, but again, I think each work should stand on its own and this movie is OK, without being a masterpiece - apart from the silly ending.

It's based on a classic book, so there's no problem with the story which plays the dynamics of the interrelation between a psychopath and their brain washed empath victim brilliantly, with great performances from both leads. The switch 30 years forward to the early 60's was seamless, deep down society was basically the same, the idea that youth crime was a new phenomenon is rubbish, 30's razor gangs were much scarier than the mods and rockers. However, one flaw is that Rose stays in a run down tower block, in the early 60's all tower blocks were brand spanking new, and would have looked great compared to the old slums. It took until the 80's for them to get run down, the middle classiness of the film makers coming through, not realizing that.

It's been a while since I saw 'Brighton rock' from 1947, but it was a lot better than this attempt to recreate a book for the screen. The acting may be strong in itself, but the drama and crime aspects never come together. One example is the scene where Pinkie takes Spicer on his last ride (or at least it is supposed to be) to the beach under the pier: the beautiful images of Brighton, its streets and dozens of mopeds (I'm not sure they're called that) are promising, but it hardly works, especially when Pinkie finds a little time to kneel down and pray(!) on the run from a couple of serious hard men. The ending has that same problem, it's over the top in its gestures, but there is no dramatic impact to match it.The locations, settings and costumes are pretty great, and the cast try their best, but it is all to very little avail.4 out of 10.

Sometimes it's a character you liked that attracts, like the role Philip Davis played in Midsomer Murders. Other times it's to see a great star like Helen Mirren.Whatever the reason, it's always good to see a film based on a Graham Greene novel, like The Third Man, This Gun for Hire, The Quiet American, and many more.A young Richard Attenborough played in this movie in the 40's, here is falls to Sam Riley (Control, Maleficent) to play the lead. He is capably assisted by Andrea Riseborough (Oblivion, Shadow Dancer), as the waitress he marries to keep her from testifying as a witness.A good neo-noir with contributions from William Hurt and Nonso Anozie (The Grey, Game of Thrones).