SnoopyStyle Harry Mitchel (Colin Farrell) just got out of prison. He's a criminal of some notoriety. His old friend Billy Norton (Ben Chaplin) is a low level gangster. Briony (Anna Friel) is his wild sister. Penny (Ophelia Lovibond) has a small job with reclusive somewhat retired actress Charlotte (Keira Knightley). She's holed up in her mansion with friend manager Jordan (David Thewlis) surrounded by the paparazzi. Corrupt detective Bailey (Eddie Marsan) tells Mitchel to avoid Billy but he still follows Billy collecting money. Billy has a proposal from his boss Rob Gant (Ray Winstone) to rob Charlotte's mansion for the car collection. Gant wants to pull Mitchel into his organization but Mitchel resists. In another side story, a couple of kids kill a homeless friend and he feels a need to get revenge.There are a couple of good performances in this pulpy British gangster movie. Colin Farrell is quite good in a darker moody role. Ray Winstone comes in and blows this movie up. There are quite a few wonderful British actors that I love. There is just too many stories going on. It would be better off concentrating on a few less characters and put more attention to Gant. This has a scatter shoot effect.

radhrh I like Gangster movies, which is to say I like films about gangsters rather than films about cops trying to catch gangsters, which is a completely different genre. I like American gangster movies and I like Japanese gangster movies but I especially like British gangster movies. There have been many really good British gangster movies from the jokey offerings of Guy Ritchie to the grimmest of the grim "40 inch chest" and the sublime "Sexy Beasts" and of course "In Bruges". "Layer Cake" was another really good British gangster movie and it is this film that London Boulevard tries so desperately to emulate. Certain sections of the movie are basically re-shoots of similar scenes, it makes one wonder if Colin Farrell was staking a claim to be the next James Bond. Sorry Collin, if you had made this film 6 years earlier you might have been in with a shout but as it stands it is merely an average effort from a list of talent who should really have done better. David Thewlis is an exception to this, his performance, although a bit generic as the stoner English toff is the best part of the film. This is not to say that there isn't some entertainment to be found here and even the sparrow like Keira Knightley isn't as annoying as she usually is but just don't go getting your hopes up, its nowhere near a classic.

Leofwine_draca It's incredible that a man of William Monahan's (THE DEPARTED, EDGE OF DARKNESS) talents could consider this viable material for a feature film. It's an entirely superfluous and predictable London gangster movie of the kind that were doing the rounds 15 years or so ago, and yet it pretends and acts like it's a unique, fresh and contemporary take on the gangster genre. It's not, and nothing that happens here is a surprise.The main problem I have with Colin Farrell is a leading man is his inability to craft sympathetic characters, and his one here is no different. I actively disliked the guy from the very start, from when he stepped out of prison, and he does nothing to engage the viewer's empathy as the story progresses. His facile romance with a stiff Keira Knightley does nothing for him, either.It doesn't help that Monahan's script is chock-full of brain-dead profanity that quickly becomes irritating. It takes a certain calibre of writer to make profanity work - Tarantino finds a natural rhythm in it, for example - but here it's just grating in the extreme. The talents of numerous actors are also wasted in nothing roles; you wonder why Stephen Graham, Lee Boardman, Jamie Campbell Bower and Eddie Marsan even bothered turning up. Ben Chaplin and David Thewlis get more to do in support, but neither are at their best here. Thewlis is on autopilot while Chaplin is slightly uncomfortable and miscast. Ray Winstone is wasted in the most clichéd and predictable gangster imaginable, although Anna Friel is very sexy, I'll give her that.London BOULEVARD isn't all bad - it's fast-paced and has lots of twists and turns to keep you watching, of course - but at the end of the day it offended me with its glib attitude and refusal to provide originality in any way, shape or form. It even rips off part of CARLITO'S WAY with a certain bare-faced cheek.

Matt-evans75-810-923388 I'm not sure why I'm seeing so many dubious reviews about this film, as a seasoned gangster film follower I thought it was epic. Understated in a way only the English can do, Colin Farrell is the quintessential calm and collected good (bad) guy. Funny and violent, it has all the essentials. Those that say the plot is hard to understand/follow probably are probably experiencing difficulties with basic tasks! The film seems to be more about the characters to the extent that there really didn't need to be a major story. Was totally unaware of it until this week, but would recommend it to anyone (PS Ray Winstone played a blinder again!)