Harrigan (2013)

What a beautiful movie!

The greatest movie ever made..!

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

One of the main criteria that I judge movies by is how they motivate or don't motivate me to go check out more about them and this movie definitely motivated me.I grew up through the 70's and I was surprised when the movie stated in the beginning that Britain was going through a period of strife with a 3 day work week and blackouts because they were rationing power. Now mind you, I was in High School and needless to say World News was not at the top of my list of things to keep informed about but I was shocked that I had somehow missed that bit of recent history.In any case, onto the movie. I loved the acting, the grittiness of the characters and the downright humanity of it all. I didn't feel like I was watching a movie as much as I was watching a story being told about real people and real events. Kudos to everyone who had a part in this from the best boy up to the Executive Producer.If you want to watch a good movie made on what would today be considered a shoestring budget, you need to watch "Harrigan"

This film is one of the best films I have seen this year. The lead actor Stephen Tompkinson plays the role of Harrigan superbly, with some really gritty, dark scenes that convey the deprivation in the north east during the industrial decline of the early 1970's. Overall the storyline captured the withdrawal of the upper police ranks from the crime hot-spots to their comfy desk jobs leaving the old hands to sort the underworld and petty criminals out. The direction and cinema-topography portray Newcastle honestly, the production is in many ways more befitting of a Hollywood blockbuster that a low budget British independent film. The director, Vince Woods, is definitely one to watch for the future and I look forward to hopefully seeing more output from him. Congratulations should also go to the screenplay writer, who's experiences I can imagine have been drawn upon in this film.

Don't believe the ten star ratings. This is poor. Very poor.Depressingly bad script, poor performances and visuals devoid of any soul.Not sure how the producers managed to pour 1.3m into this steaming pile of doggy doo but someone, somewhere must be laughing their socks off.Even by low TV movie standards this is terrible.Stephen Tomlinson is no movie star and he proves it in what amounts to a dull, plodding and brow furrowed non performance. The rest of the cast from the evil pedophile and his crew to the rest of the depressingly familiar, seen a million times, figures that pop up are non-entities.Harrigan is boring, depressing and instantly forgettable Another nail in the coffin of independent British film.

When someone says "British Crime Drama" I know what to expect, either Danny Dyer or another Mockney Guy Ritchie knock-off. So, it was a real delight to see that Harrigan is neither. Instead of geezers and shooters, Harrigan is moody, dark and tense crime drama set in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the 1970's. Stephen Tompkinson is a refreshing change from the usual, in that he delivers a powerful, but essentially understated performance in the main role. The same is true of the supporting cast, who manage to give very solid performances. On top of this, the film is beautifully shot. James McAleer, the DOP, has managed to get just the right balance between the darkness of the story and the warm tones of the period. The movie is based on the real life experiences of a retired copper, and because if this it does offer up some new ideas, whilst not deviating too far from what you'd expect from a maverick cop drama. It's a brave production team that takes on a period drama on a British independent movie budget, but this one manages to pull it off with a certain amount of style.