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Saturday, February 27, 2010
44 Inch Chest (2010)
Posted on 2:21 PM by Paolo
'44 Inch Chest' Review
By Paolo Sardinas
Love is a job. It is a working relationship between two individuals that requires some teamwork and some damn good effort. Whether or not the other really cares is out of the question. This an many other quips about love are said by ray Winstone's character Colin Diamond in the latest achievement in British film-making 44 Inch Chest. At a first glance the film's opening sequence can seem a bit comical considering the fact that Diamond is seen lying on the floor with the entire living room looking like a trash heap. And the fact that Harry Nilsson's "Without You" is playing in the background only adds more to the ominous setting. It sets up the movie, and the audience, for whats about to happen in an unconventional way for an unconventional ninety minutes.
The main concept of 44 Inch Chest centers around the story of Colin's wife, Liz (Joanne Whalley), and extra marital affair. In simpler terms, she's getting her goodies from someone else. Her lover turns out to be a French waiter this of course drives Collin ballistic, hence the trashed living room and depressing music. Collin enlists the help of some of his friends who later drive down to "Loverboy's" workplace and kidnap the poor fellow. This "Band of Brothers" includes some rather interesting characters, Meredith (Ian McShane) is a gambler, who always wins, that also happens to be gay, Old Man Peanut (John Hurt) whose an old and pissy little fella who seems to be all for beating the living hell out of the man, then we got Mal (Stephen Dillane) a ratty womanizer, and Archie played by Tom Wilkinson, Colin's best friend who also happens to live with his mother.
The fearsome five kidnap Loverboy, the only name we're given to associate him by, and lock him away in a filthy London flat. They kill time by discussing their previous night, Meredith won a couple thousand euros, old gangster friends, all while awaiting the final decision of Colin whose too busy drowning himself in whiskey. I won't ruin the whole but 44 Inch Chest plays out like a stage production, in many ways, it is a stage production. The entire film takes place in this one room setting while Colin cries and contemplates on how to get the love of his life back. Its essentially a gangster pic even though nothing exceedingly violent happens nor does it substitute the great dialogue for anything thats un-needed.
Each actor knows what hes doing and adds their own personal touch to each of their characters making them not only seemingly real but relatable. Aside from the never ending use of strong language, most of which comes from John Hurt whose proving again why hes one of the best, the film has entertainment woven throughout. Its a dialogue heavy film written by the writers of the very well made Sexy Beast. Granted we don't have Ben Kinglsey as a hitman but what we do have is Ray Winstone whose performance as an emotionally broken man is completely believable even though at times you just want it all to pick up the pace. Hurt's grumpy old man is not only funny but also needed. He's that extra push that Collin needs to keep him going while he also driving him mad.
First time director Malcolm Venville does a fine job of capturing every detail in every scene. He even uses some inter cuts of Cecil B Demille's Samson and Delilah to describe Peanut's own perspective on women. He captures the characters interplay between each other and makes the film worth while. The movie, though, isn't flawless. There some scenes which tend to go on for longer they should have and some that could of gone on a little bit longer. The editing isn't terrible but after seeing some of Colin's daydreaming sequences the movie starts to lose its path and you can't help but wonder, "Where is it all going?"
Besides the few slip-ups, 44 Inch Chest is a great piece of filmmaking. It includes some incredibly real but also intriguing characters which never become "types" in another actiony British gangster flick. It offers something that new and fresh. While it sometimes has a tendency to lose its way to getting to the point, its still builds up to something that may be a downer to some but what may also signify a fresh new start for the film's main protagonist. Its a surprisingly good British "gangster" flick that never succumbs to the genre's countless cliches. Its not exactly new but it isn't old either. Well except for Old Man Peanut. He's pretty old.
Grade: A-
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