The Business film review

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THE BUSINESS

The Business may not be the most original crime drama ever made, but it's a lot of fun and a memorably touching affair created by the same team that scored with 2004's The Football Factory. It's a rags-to-riches-to-rags tale of lowlife London hoodlums living it up on Spain's Costa del Crime in the 1980s, and despite the fact that it will undoubtedly be ignored come awards time, it's precisely the sort of picture that the British film industry so desperately needs: populist, entertaining, and gladly lacking in airs and graces.

Frankie (Danny Dyer) is a whip of a lad who at the beginning of the film gets into some undisclosed trouble in London, and thanks to his local connections is whisked off to the south of Spain with a delivery for Charlie (Tamer Hussan), a brash nightclub owner with a lucrative sideline in transporting drugs from the North African coast to mainland Europe. Unable to return to England, Frankie becomes Charlie's gopher, and soon is living the high life, accompanied by an evocative period soundtrack and Sergio Tacchini tennis gear.

Inevitably things begin to go wrong: drug-fuelled paranoia besets Charlie and his gang, and as the money rolls in, relationships become strained. Frankie's biggest problem however is that he falls for Carly (Georgina Chapman), the beautiful but untouchable girlfriend of Frankie's lunatic business partner Sammy (Geoff Bell). Love may be his drug, but the piles of cocaine don't exactly help matters either.

It's hard not to compare the film to Sexy Beast, another recent Spanish-set gangster film, but The Business succeeds on its own terms. Director Nick Love creates a pacy and engaging drama, and is greatly helped by the same production design team that worked on last year's It's All Gone Pete Tong. There is also a collection of standout performances from Dyer, Bell and particularly Hussan as the Mr Big of the gang. While it's enjoyable to watch the rise of these villains, their demise is both spectacular and surprisingly poignant.

The film looks like it was a lot of fun to make, and the DVD goes some way to showing why, with the usual behind-the-scenes extras, and an unusual swear counter, which charts the considerable tally of four-letter words on offer. An enjoyable night in, and a good addition to anyone's small-screen collection.

Paul Hurley