Outlaw film review

certificate_18

OUTLAW

One of the more interesting things about Nick Love's new vigilante thriller is the fact that the producers offered members of the public the chance to get involved: for a meagre £100 they could have their name in lights, or at least credited as exec producers on the DVD release of the film. Actually it's the only interesting thing about this sorry mess which represents the first serious mis-step from the director of the cultish Football Factory and The Business.

A bunch of unlikely vengeance-seekers form a group under the tutelage of soldier Sean Bean, who has returned from a tour of duty with several bags of chips on each shoulder. They include Love stalwart Danny Dyer, out to find those who beat him up and teach them a lesson, and Lennie James as a barrister whose wife is stabbed when he refuses to drop a case against an underworld crook. They are aided by Bob Hoskins' renegade security officer who provides them with the wheres and whens of their targets.

Soon the gang reach notoriety and are in the press and on TV. It's possibly meant to say something about declining social standards and the moral turpitude that apparently now surrounds us, but this is a film that fails on practically every level with uneven acting and a script that is both preposterously simplistic (relying on several leaps of faith on behalf of the viewer) and full of plot holes.

There's no credit here for anyone involved, and those innocent members of the public who stumped up cash to be part of it would be justified in asking for a refund. The screening I attended was notable for the guffaws of disbelief from the audience at what was happening on screen as well as numerous walkouts. An early contender for worst film of the year.

Paul Hurley