Sunset Heights
Dir: Colm Villa
Star: Toby Stephens, Jim Norton, James Cosmo, Patrick O'Kane
This interesting little movie is the
first on the Showcase label, which is designed to offer an outlet for
British and Irish product; if the rest are up to this standard, I'll be
very impressed. For it plays almost like a reverse version of The Crow:
Luke Bradley's son is abducted and killed, so he enlists the help of the
gangs who run Londonderry [amazingly, this Irish film manages to avoid
mentioning the troubles, which is a breath of fresh air!] to find the
killer, who is summarily executed. Doubts soon arise at to whether they got
the right man -- indeed, did they get their man at all, since he still
seems to be popping up all over the place... The eventual explanation is
the film's weakest point, being unconvincing; however, until then this has
been creepy and effective stuff with strong performances, assured direction
and a script that carefully drips out the necessary information. While it
will no doubt be promoted on the back of 'Lock, Stock...' as another
British gangster film, this is something totally different, but no less
appealing. [Released to rent from Showcase]
B
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