carbuff
Really solid British gangster film with strong performance for actors that we don't see much of in America. The story has plenty of interesting twists and seem to me to be fairly original. It's not a criticism, but you have to be on your toes to understand a lot of the dialog, because most of the British accents are very heavy and the talking is fast. I don't have anything really bad to say about this movie, and the only reason I'm not rating it higher is because I don't think that there was one single sympathetic character in the entire film--you couldn't care less if any of these unseemly characters met an untimely end. Every single character in this film is somebody that I would intensely dislike and absolutely want to be miles away from in real life. Still, an interesting film, just nobody to root for at all.
Spikeopath
St George's Day is directed by Frankie Harper, he also co-writes the screenplay with Urs Buehler and stars with Craig Fairbrass, Vincent Regan, Charles Dance, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Keeley Hazell, Jamie Foreman and Sean Pertwee. Music is by Tim Attack and cinematography is by Mike Southon.Frankie Harper, one of the most liked and recognisable faces from the slew of British gangster and football hooligan films, turns his hand to try and make his own mark in what is becoming a bulging genre of Brit film. The kicker here is that he blends the two popular lad staples together by having a plot involving gangsters using a football rumble as cover for a robbery. In Berlin, Germany, no less and St George's Day as well! Cor blimey!Plot is kind of incidental, which is just as well since it's not exactly a brains trust script. Film is filled out with the requisite amount of shouting, swearing, fighting, shooting, thieving, jingoism, sloganeering and lairy witticisms. Harper has surrounded himself with pals, clearly offering up reassuring presences to the budding director, while it's fun for fans of this splinter of Brit cinema to play spot the face. It's all very blokey and enjoyable enough for the undemanding, but the good idea on the page is not born out as the narrative often gasps for fresh air, the attempts at complexity ending up mundane.The cinematography is a highlight, with the number of Euro locations used giving good visual tonics. Cast perform adequately as per the material, though Moran, Fletcher, Dance and Pertwee are under used and therefore wasted. There's enough in here to suggest Harper could offer something of value as a director, but maybe a little less crass for crass sake should be jettisoned in favour of some intelligence in the writing. Dexter Fletcher's debut outing as a director, Wild Bill, is a good marker, Frankie would do well to follow his mate's lead. 6/10
FlashCallahan
Infamous cousins, Micky Mannock and Ray Collishaw, are at the top of their game, when their world is turned upside down, as they lose a shipment of the Russian Mafia's cocaine in rough seas. They race across Europe to attempt to stay one step ahead of the Police, The Russians, and Frank Harpers vanity.......I love watching films with Craig Fairbrass, ever since he appeared in Cliffhanger as a Cockney Geezer, he has played the same character in everything he has appeared in, and he never fails to make me chuckle.So I thought I'd hit pay-dirt with this, and thought I'd be in store for a couple of hours worth of silly swearing, Chavvy clothes, and idle threats. Believe me, I don't like these sort of films, I just watch them for their crassness, and stupidity.But then I realise its just a complete vanity project for Frank Harper, another hard man you wouldn't ask or an autograph from in real life, and it really got me thinking, how on earth can films like this and the equally bad 'Big Fat Gypsy Gangster' get green lighted?Harper casts a glamour model as his Girlfriend, who also like the fairer sex, and he gets all the best lines, and it turns from a laughable crime drama, to The Frank Harper show.Charles Dance turns up every now and again, dying a little inside saying these poor lines, and sort things out.CGI blood is awful, and in the end, its just a poor excuse of a film.But at least I found out what the Acronym POSH stands for.Frank Harper, movie maker and educator....
Mark Mair
I've clicked on the spoiler alert because the spoiler is this film is b*ll*x beyond belief. If you're a fan of British gangster moves this film will sadly disappoint. I lost track of the times either dialog or scenes had been shamelessly ripped off from HBOs The Sopranos.Throw in Russian mobsters, missing cocaine, football hooligans and and East End funeral complete with horse drawn hearse and you have all the ingredients for a clichéd script supported by a cast so wooden they're at risk of Dutch Elm disease.The "Nipper Harris" character (Jamie Foreman) is like a cross between Colombo and one of the chuckle brothers. The director should have gone the whole way and dressed him in a pearly king suit and swapped the cigar for jellied eels.I'm amazed that an actor of the quality of Charles Dance got involved with this. Its not as if this was poor execution of a good script with a strong plot-line. There are also some quite bizarre choices for scene settings where the main British protagonists meet their sinister Russian counterparts in a field.This is quite simply one of the worst films I have ever watched, of any genre.
AD
