Shopping (1996)

Wonderful character development!

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

I simply love this movie. I read every single review here and I feel there's a fundamental problem with the critiques here. Not to be mean or disagree I think every positive and negative point here was legitimate. That is one reason why this movie is so good, its misunderstood, on a scale from one to ten stars that buys 5 for me. The other 5 stars that makes it a ten in my book? I actually LIVED like this for about 5 years when i was a teenager.It's my guess that none of the reviewers here? Ever have lived the extreme adrenaline junkie, sometimes criminal life of wanton chaos and destruction. A teen aged life of insanity; of skateboards, music, destroying things just to destroy them, carjacking, showing up a rival gang, drugs, jail, graffiti, ram raiding, running with a gang, the attitude. So therefore they cannot truly relate, and pan the movie, which is unfair. I mean, perhaps some of them have, who knows? But I noticed an underlying lack of actual identification with Billy from the people here speaking and that, I feel, is a discredit to the director. To speak ill of something when you cannot identify and relate to the protagonist is a bit underhanded. But its okay. The movie is obviously supposed to evoke an either positive fascination or a negative judgment from the viewer; I would posit that makes it a classic. I lived in the Midwest and when I was a teenager I did EVERYTHING Billy does in this movie. Got away with almost all of it like Billy but caught finally one day running from the cops super high at 4 am, they out ran me... Billy would be one of my best friends if he was real, and so would Jo. I NEVER see people in movies I identify with! It's usually the films about renegades that I identify with the characters and those tend to be very rare? So brownie points to Andersen for hitting the niche so well. Whoever picked the soundtrack actually knows what they're doing and that is very, very, very, rare. Most cheesy action movies just play what everyone wants to hear, this movie actually had identity when it came to the music, akin to Clockwork Orange. This would be one of the 5 soundtracks from the 90's id actually buy. Not a single song in this movie would've been on the radio, and i LOVED that. It wasn't fake poppy alternative and metal like most action movies, there was actual electronic music which is so rare. There's a scene towards the end when Billy and Jo jack a red BMW and the song could've been straight off a progressive trance internet station. Kudos for that. Speaking of Jo i saw someone ragging on this movie because Billy turns Jo down? Yes, it's a loser thing to do, but I was in love with my best friend for 10 years and we never did sleep with each other. Ever slept with your best friend? I have. It's a terrible idea unless you want to make her your wife. Billy had too much work to do to alienate her, which is generally what happens when you sleep with your best friend. I found the single kiss adorable and very reserved which is actually subtly dry and awesome, they always just kiss kiss bang bang in movies its refreshing to see some actual focus. Jude Law pulls it off, you can tell Billy is written to be way more into living his life than worrying about romance and some young men actually do live that way. (I don't , but some do :) The punk scene growing up around here was a lot like that. This was simply not a love story guys its way more akin to something like Akira. Jo's female presence is DIRELY needed; in the respect that their are some kick tail WOMEN out there as well. And not all of those renegade women are just the protagonist's lover. Brownie points as well for making an action movie female in a strong role. I respected her a lot more for accepting his brushoff, getting angry and leaving. Most women would pursue it and make a mess of things, romance can really screw up the dynamic, I used to run with some of the most crazy women in my city and I can speak firsthand. Men and women CAN just be best friends and partners, without the romance, it's a common misconception. This movie illustrates it beautifully. In closing, I'd like to list the 4 movies i watched today to give you an idea of how this movie fits with it's genre of action, I haven't watched any movies in a couple of weeks and got in a specific mood.... First was SFW, second was Over the Edge, third was Shopping, fourth was A Clockwork Orange. I like them all equally and give them all ten stars for fitting a very very tight niche of underground appreciators. Teenage rebellion movies for the win!!!!!!! Shopping fits in JUST FINE. I obviously can't live a life of chaos like this anymore? The costs were too high, so it's great to watch a sentimental movie every once in awhile, and be like, those were the days, be like, YUP i did that, AHAHAHAHA! Instead of going and actually doing it. :) A trip down memory lane, as it were.PS The anti conformity, anti authority, anarchistic nature of this movie is to be commended, you just don't see open rebellion movies anymore. The sad ending fits in right with the pathos and the message, crime doesn't pay. Death happens, and so does karma.

It's amazing that Paul WS Anderson, out of all those big budget Hollywood sci-fi action junk, his best film could be this much smaller scale, rather fascinating tale of London suffering from youth crime gone amok, with Brit street punks, aimless and violence-prone, many either hooked on, or selling, drugs, destroying cop cars(and the police themselves), driving stolen vehicles through store windows, pelting the police with whatever they can get their hands on. It's absolute anarchy, and we see that the 90's punk culture has served not the most model citizens of society, as they seem to have no career goals, no future, living a life of crime either for kicks or underground business. Billy(Jude Law)has just been released from yet another stint in prison, rejoining his gal pal, Jo(Sadie Frost), as they steal cars and cause general mischief. Billy's "nemesis" is Tommy(Sean Pertwee), someone who has made a little street "enterprize" for himself using footsoldiers to rob stores for merchandise to sell on his "black market". Tommy doesn't like Billy's gung-ho, "adrenaline junkie" ways and warns Jo she should abandon him before he leads her into trouble. Billy likes to live recklessly, on the wild side, and has gained quite a reputation for doing so, a sort of hero to the punks on the streets. Tommy, however, considers himself quite a businessman, peddling his goods at much cheaper prices for those with the money to pay him(his customers normally wish to pay less than he demands, but they know his goods is of a legitimate quality), and sees Billy as a threat to everything he holds dear. There's an inevitable confrontation, but Billy underestimates his rival, with severe consequences. A mall is both men's desired target, and there's an ace up Tommy's sleeve which might just cost Billy dearly. Jo is in love with Billy and has went out of her way to reveal this to him, pleading with him to leave London and run away with her..but, Billy is a stubborn young man who has a problem with Tommy's "takeover" of "his city". I think Anderson effectively shows a London in ruin, with tired, exhausted police(under the command of Jonathan Pryce's saddened, weary Conway)unable to control the youth revolt. We see streets as if war had broken out, with filth and poverty very alive, along with graffiti walls, damaged cars, and trash in abundance. The overwhelming populace of self-destructive, unruly, and unyielding young criminals, with seemingly nothing else to live for but raising hell, are presented in a surprisingly non judgmental way, although, I never felt Anderson was condoning their behavior..I think he was merely showing us a lifestyle outside the norm, following a lost generation fallen under the cracks(..and, we can see that there were a lot of them, too). We can see that Billy's need for kicks and thrills are bound to lead down a path of destruction, and the ultimate crime is that he'll take Jo with him since she's just too in love to get away while the going was good.

The trouble with most films like these is the predictability of them. While studies have been made on the noir genre and the American gangster genre featuring the rise of the anti-hero and the eventual demise of said role, they really just open up the reader's mind to the possible predictability of any film that falls into these genres. Way back in the classical Hollywood age, it was impossible to show any anti-hero or murderer actually get away with killing someone because it would glorify their actions in the sense they became successful because of it. Shopping falls into the crime genre but is a contemporary British effort although it revolves around criminal activity and that specific activity is carjacking and ram-raiding. It treads close to glorifying it before delivering an ending few would predict incorrectly.So if after the first thirty minutes we cannot see which way this film is heading then it's quite clear we're not familiar with the genre. It takes a brave director to pull off an effective crime film and have the lead anti-hero get away with it all in the end but Paul W. S. Anderson is not that individual. In Shopping, recently released convict Billy (Law) defies his superegos and goes out on a binge of crime and law breaking with girlfriend Jo (Frost); they steal cars, avoid the police and smash shop windows with the film generally avoiding a clear cut plot until much later when it suddenly realises it needs one to see it through to its conclusion.Principally, Anderson is cutting his teeth with this film and there is no way he is going to ignore the law that dictates what should happen to criminal anti-heroes. The only thing with this is, if you're going to go down that familiar route at least make it a fun ride along the way. Shopping does not make it an enjoyable ride but rather refrains from story telling until absolutely necessary. Billy, the film's lead, does not have a specific goal and whenever this is the case the film will not have a clear cut narrative. I'm all for films to expand from the monotony of formula and typical stories but for a film to open with two kids racing through a tunnel yelling at the top of their voice as the police chase them and then not really go on from there, is just disappointing.Along with the lack of a goal, Billy does not have anything at stake bar a re-arrest from policeman Conway (Pryce) but that's never going to happen because if it did, Billy would be locked up for another month or so and the film would end (or become a prison drama, something equally unlikely). The film takes place in an odd place; a dystopian England that could be mistaken for the then near future; a world in which people of a specific culture meet in packs showing off their latest 'steal' much like cavemen huddling around displaying their latest kill. But these people are more like Hell's Angels, only with automobiles instead of motorcycles. The grim buildings and bizarre white lighting during the night scenes complete an odd setting, feeling like something straight out of Blade Runner.More on the foils for Billy; initially, Conway stands between Billy and his 'goal'; his goal being to go out, commit crime, drive really fast and..........acquire a kettle. I find the antagonism with Conway quite sad because he is really just trying to help this young individual stick to the straight and narrow. Billy can only refuse the aid. Then the film realises it needs a plot to track through to the final third and changes its principal antagonism to a character named Tommy (Pertwee). Tommy is the closest thing you get in the film resembling a gangster, a sort of hard-nut caricature with a jacket and a shaved head. He answers to Venning (Bean), a man who he is indebted to and whose debt will become more complicated when Billy interferes.So the film all boils down to one massive heist at a retail shop named 'Alaska'. Before we get there, we get some blatant product placement as characters state all the benefits of owning a BMW; the fact that Budweiser is the 'king of beers' and Billy goes out of his way to emphasise Ellesse kettles. There are some daft scenes early on when a police chopper makes itself known alerting everyone to run away before the police arrive and other pursuing police cars seems to disappear when an ambush scene at some garages arrives. But you cannot fault the film for effort and a rather impressive opening scene sees Jo cast away the young woman clichés she should embody when she chucks cassette tapes of current pop music out the back of a stolen car – she will not be a part of that culture, as we will learn; she's 'in' with the car obsessed Hell's Angels-type crowd.While Shopping never falls below that level that makes it a genuinely bad film, it isn't anything spectacular. Whilst deeply flawed, it is interesting to see a low budget; low-key British film trying to shoot car chases and attempting to make some sort of crime saga. But the story is left wanting and the film revolves around absolutely nothing for most of the time. While this isn't a bad thing, it takes a skilled director to deliver that approach and while the intentions were there, director Anderson falls just short.

Jude Law and Sadie Frost star in a film that could of been. Shopping maintains some nice themes and story lines throughout, but is lacking the finishing touch that turns a low budget flop into a cult classic. The script lacks any real originality and creativity, instead opting for attempts at capturing the attention of youth cultures by trying to sum up all of them in one film - this is never going to work.This is a good film, with a lot of potential, but there are a lot of things missing and a lot of things put in that shouldn't be there - Sean Pertwee playing basketball on top of a high rise building just doesn't feel quite right. Combined with a pretty poor performance from Jude Law, even Frost is better, who is generally unconvincing as a troubled tearaway on a downward spiral. He's far too pretty and doesn't have the edge that you want his character to have.Not worth seeing really, but if there are any aspiring, young and creative British film makers out there who want to remake it, i would definitely love to see what they could do.