The Business (2005)
During the '80s, a young man named Frankie dreams of escaping London's South East region, and his mother's thug of a boyfriend gives him just the opportunity. After beating up the abusive beau, Frankie runs off to Spain, where he lands a job delivering a package to the dapper Playboy Charlie, a gangster who takes him under his wing. Working as Charlie's driver, Frankie is immersed in a world of fast cars and pretty women -- but all the excess could be his undoing.
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Such a frustrating disappointment
Brilliant and touching
It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
I found this by mistake and it was a surprisingly good movie, I had never heard of it and I am not familiar of the actors but it was a fun movie to watch.
Proudly proclaiming itself to have "More cocaine that Casino, more guns than Goodfellas and more swearing than Scarface", Nick Love's 2005 movie "The Business" is a rags to riches tale of a young criminal who escapes certain jail time to the "Costa Del crime" in Gibraltar and Spain to go into business with a self-made gangster.The idea that this movie somehow should belong in the same category as Casino, Goodfellas and Scarface seemed a very tall order, and unfortunately it actually serves more as an ironic epitaph as it never even gets to the same level as any of its more famous US counterparts.Overall, the movie isn't too bad. The plot is interesting and well developed, the characters are well cut and the pace is crisp and to the point; but I felt that there were parts that were obviously tailor made for the Lad's mag market it was quite targeted and marketed at; for this I point to the over-the-top swearing, constant MTV cut-away shots and a wide-boy faux British Cockney gangster attitude that is not only annoying, and frustrating to watch.As many montages of money, drugs and air-plane drops you can muster will not hide the fact that plot points are glossed over very quickly; the back story of how they, in Spain, got in touch with Columbians drug barons who were seemingly happy to fly the thousands of miles to Spain to do one small deal seemed very unrealistic.One thing I did like was the political, greasing of the local mayor to ensure their supply is not touched by the police and law enforcement; however when a certain member of the British Cockney gang is "killed" I do wish they'd explain how and who, rather than just going for the big shock value.Disappointingly, there was very little of the "Costa Del crime" concept that was never really developed; instead the film is really just about a very small group of 30-40 year old's who think they are the biggest thing to ever exist; only for them to realise actually they're just a lot of bark and not much bite.And this is the main problem I have with "The Business". For all its talk of being a gangster movie, its just a small bunch of mouthy cockney gangsters who play up to the Lad's mag crowd, and shoves in random drug moments and pop-culture references in a bid to make itself edgy and hip.In addition, the movie looks and feels very cheap; with a limited or low budget it hides its low quality behind the veneer of expensive villas and sunny beaches.Should this be in the same category as Casino, Goodfellas and Scarface? Nope, not at all; its not even in the same league and my advise would be - if you want to watch a modern gangster movie it's probably best to stick to the American gangster movies or, if you want to watch a British one, see Layer Cake instead.Overall, the film quality is very poor and the Lad's mag gangster flick's claims to be in the same league as US gangster movies actually serves as a weighty reminder of just how good those movies are, and how poor this is in comparison.4/10
This is fairly typical Nick Love fare with Danny Dyer playing 'Frankie' the teenager who wishes to escape the boredom of inner-city London and his Father slapping his Mother around every weekend when he's had a skin-full so he makes the break and takes the 'job' to deliver a parcel to a man named Charlie at his bar in Malaga in Spain. This opens-up a whole new World to Frankie who gets a wad of notes thick enough to choke a horse from Charlie for making the delivery along with the directions to spruce himself-up. Charlie (Tamer Hassan) take to each other like a duck to water.NOT so when Charlie introduces Frankie' to his best friend Sammy Brooks who Charlie has known since early schooldays.Sammy - played by Geoff Bell takes an immediate dislike to Frankie and this leads to one problem after the other for our young Cockney on his first foray abroad? Add to this Sammys' love interest trying to get Frankies trousers off and there is Drama and Comedy all thrown in the mix.All in all a quite good film that I've only marked down because I can't stand the OBNOXIOUS BELL who ALWAYS seems to play the know-it-all, big-mouth in the gang in his films and who must be a very good and convincing actor because I'm sure he's nice in real life?
After watching this film for the first time (and it's been about10 or 11 times now) I became such a sucker for Danny Dyer! The bloke is amazing! He has such a presence in this film that I have become devoted to seeing every movie of his from now on (some not so good). This film is so class that I watched it twice in a row once. Never a dull moment and so many one-liners you'll have yourself in stitches! The cast consists of most of the Brit flick regulars including Danny, Dyer, Geoff Bell, Tamer Hassan and Roland Manookian (in a small but memorable role) - so you won't be disappointed! Defintitely worth a watch (or two or three)!! There is always a movie in an actor's career that generates a new-found respect for them... This is the one for Danny!