Hard Men (1996)

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

"Hard men" never really made it and it's one of the greatest crimes in cinema as this movie made by Amalou (he only made 3 movies since now) is one of the rare pearls in today's British cinema. The violence of course refers to Tarantino, but so what?, hundreds of other movies did and it's absolutely funny. We follow the adventures of three maffiosi (their boss is the legendary Mad Frankie Fraser, played by himself) who earn "their" money. They do have their own techniques and as you can guess it's not exactly the most customer-friendly one. But once you're in the mob, there's no escape and one day one of the three becomes a father and want to become a family man he already wrote his testament. "Hard men" is a typical British movie that only will be understand by those who hate Mel Gibson-movies (the dialogue about whether Abba are good or not, is hilarious. Superb and one of the greatest I saw, plus tons better than overrated Tarantino-copies.

Dark, funny, inventive, sly. Loved the style, actors and overall atmosphere. Looks like that viewers who didn't like the film didn't get the very dark, dry sense of humour. Made way before Lock Stock, it's the Godfather of British gangster flicks made in the Cool Britannia era! Watch and enjoy! It's the "business"!

One of the reviewers on the Imdb page was right...you will either love this film or hate it. I loved it.J K Amalou's directorial debut is a very underrated piece of filmmaking. He pays homage to various similar films of the same genre, and delivers a thought provoking, funny and dark film that, for me, gives hope to the future of British cinema. The main character is Tone, who wants to leave "the life" for domestic tranquility after 15 years of cracking heads and busting jaws for Pops Den, the underworld boss who is "past it". Along for the ride are his two colleagues and friends, Bear and Speed (the latter brilliantly played by the versatile Lee Ross).Of course, the powers that be decide that Tone should be killed, and it's up to Bear and Speed to do it. As proof, Pops Den wants Tone's severed hand on his desk by 9am the following morning. And so, we are taken on a whirlwind of a night through East London with the boys struggling against their moral consciences, while Tone looks forward to a life with his girlfriend and new baby.There are pieces of genius in this movie. There is a memorable scene in a brothel where a disillusioned twenty year old prostitute tells her life story with violent consequences, and one can't help but be touched when, in front of his macho colleagues, Tone sings a gentle lullaby to his baby daughter over his mobile phone.All in all, Hard Men was overlooked and ignored by the British filmgoing public. This is a shame because, while not in the same class as The Long Good Friday, it definitely gives the likes of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels a good run for its money.

No, I am not joking, this truly is an inspiration to all aspiring screenwriters and film-makers. Frankly if someone can be pursuaded to stump up money for this sorry mess of a film then surely you can do better. The most amazing thing about this film is that somebody, presumably having read the script, actually gave it the green light. To list its weaknesses would need more than the 1000 words allowed by the IMDB. Still it did give me the opportunity to stand next to Mad Frankie Fraser at the London Film Festival and notice how small he was. Mind you I would never say that to his face.